The Political Climate: an ongoing commentary on the NH Primary and Climate Change

John Travolta’s global warming talk is a far cry from the climate change crusade spearheaded by Al Gore.  However, the two celebrities–one known for his disco fever, the other the former Vice President–do share one unfortunate environmental no no: they have yet to practice what they preach.  Earlier this month Gore received a lot of criticism after a Tennessee think tank revealed the energy usage in his 20-room, 10,000 square-foot-home in Nashville.  To be fair, the numbers first revealed didn’t take into account the energy needed for security (he is a former Vice President after all).  But nonetheless, a 10,000 sq. ft. home is tough to justify–for anyone–especially when preaching that global warming is a moral and ethical issue.  Travolta admits that he might not be the best person to lecture about environmental practices, but he does so anyway encouraging his fans to “do their bit” in the fight against global warming.  I’m all for spreading the word, but someone who owns five planes, a private runway, and a compound that looks like a private airport may not be the best messenger (at least he would be conserving emissions somewhere).

Yesterday Time Magazine released polling results that pretty much conclude the presidential race is completely up in the air.  The poll does show a slight lead for the Republican party, a surprise given the party’s current status in the general public.  In most polls Clinton has been the obvious leader in the Democratic party, but when Time conducted this new poll in hypothetical head-to-head matchups among front-runners, Clinton didn’t fare as well as Obama, and the Democrats lost out in all scenarios:

“Hillary Clinton loses to John McCain, 42%-48%, and to Rudy Giuliani 41%-50%. Even though Clinton maintains a 7% edge over Obama among Democratic respondents, Obama fares better in the general election matchups. It’s so close that it’s a statistical dead heat, but Obama still loses: 43%-45% to McCain, 44%-45% to Giuliani. “

Last night WMUR Channel 9 News aired a short segment “Experts: Climate Change Could Have Major Impact on NH, Data Show Temperatures Have Risen Over the Last Century.”  The piece (shown here) reported on the threats that global warming poses (and in some cases, are already in evidence) to NH’s four-season climate: early ice out dates, heat waves, autumn droughts, heavy rains and flooding events, sea level rise, etc.  The three climate experts interviewed, Barry Rock, Cameron Wake, and David Brown, warned of a warming trend that could make the state’s climate more like that of Virginia or North Carolina by 2100.   Overall it was a great segment despite newscaster Tom Griffith’s editorializing about scientists not being in agreement over this.  It was late when this was aired so I ‘m guessing he dozed off during the part where the three experts all spoke in agreement of these changes.

A week ago TPC clarified some rumors that made the rounds during Town Meeting.  This article in The Cabinet Press reported on another rumor that hopefully doesn’t need any clarifying.  A resident in Lyndeborough spoke out against the Climate Change Resolution claiming if the government were to do what the article suggests then “it might ration gas or impose a carbon tax” or even “follow China’s path and limit the number of children people have to cut down on carbon emissions.”  Apparently (and fortunately) not everyone was on the same page as this resident and in the end “the Earth won by 14 votes.” 

I got an email this morning from a member of the Carbon Coalition speakers’ bureau.  He recently spoke at two venues in the Granite State and this was his review of the events:

“On the one hand, I’m happy to be preaching to the choir, but on the other, I find myself wanting to be confronted by more climate change deniers. There were probably 25 people on Saturday morning in Keene and closer to 30 in Ossipee; most of them listened attentively and had interesting questions. However, the deniers seem to be staying mum when it comes to challenging the science. Maybe more Americans are becoming concerned about this issue than I’d thought, or maybe the non-believers stay home.”

Maybe the handful of ”non-believers” are staying home–a recent survey shows 2% of NH Democratic and 14% of NH Republican voters think global warming “won’t happen”–but more likely, the choir is growing.  According to this poll, more Americans are becoming concerned with global warming.  Mark Mellman, president of the Mellman Group (who conducted the poll), notes “it is worth recognizing that Republican voters are far ahead of their elected officials, who are in danger of losing support as a result of embracing a Luddite position on global warming.”  It’s been said that green is the new black and from the red carpet of Hollywood to the cover of Sports Illustrated, this is becoming increasingly true.  But it’s not about a trend or believing or not–this isn’t Santa Claus, it’s science–it’s about listening, learning, and catching up on the facts (which our speaker points out is not happening).  The naysayers and “deniers” are, as Mellman so perfectly put it, “embracing a Luddite position,” and despite majority rule federal policy has yet to catch up. 

The minority is still creating quite the ruckus.  Yesterday Sen. James Inhofe, an outspoken global warming skeptic, announced that Live Earth, an international series of concerts aimed at raising global warming awareness, should not be held on Capitol Hill.  He argued that “there has never been a partisan political event at the Capitol, and this is a partisan political event.”  Sen. Olympia Snowe countered Inhofe by saying moving the concert location “would certainly provide an unfortunate message on behalf of the U.S., that somehow we’re languishing in our desire to combat the problem.”  Although Snowe makes a good point, we already are languishing in our efforts to combat global warming and a concert to raise awareness isn’t likely going to be the solution. 

Since his February 23 announcement that he no longer is in the presidential race, my Inbox has been absent of emails from Tom Vilsack, that is until today:

“I’m not someone to play coy about my intentions.  When I make a decision, I go all in and follow through.  Hillary Clinton has the same determination, and it is something I have always admired…”

That’s an interesting beginning to an endorsement letter after making a mere two and a half month campaign effort before dropping out of the race–and Clinton shares his “follow through” and “determination?”  Nevertheless, the letter announces an official endorsement of Clinton praising her ideas about the war, health care, and energy independence.  The letter fails to mention the financial support the Clinton campaign has offered Vilsack to help alleviate some of the $430,000 debt he acquired during his brief stint as a candidate.  According to the NYT political blog The Caucus, Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said “Senator Clinton has been close to the Vilsacks for years and if she can be helpful, she will.”

In other news, new research from Yale University shows that 83% of Americans believe global warming is a “serious” issue.  Even more significantly, the survey revealed that 63% of Americans agree that the United States “is in as much danger from environmental hazards, such as air pollution and global warming, as it is from terrorists.”