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

The rumor mill began turning as discussions of the Climate Change Resolution began at Town Meetings last week.  We thought we’d take this opportunity to lend our voice to the discussion and clear up some of this gossip.

At the Town Meeting in Hancock someone stood up and announced that the Carbon Coalition is a national organization that is putting the resolution on ballots all over the country.  Hmm, we didn’t know that.  It just so happens that one of the co-chairs of the Carbon Coalition is also the town volunteer in Hancock, and he was able to address this falsehood.  The Carbon Coalition was founded by state conservation organizations in 2003 and the resolution was written by people in NH for NH communities.  The Carbon Coalition’s tag line is even “NH citizens for a responsible energy policy.”  I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t go over well in most other states.

Rumor: the Climate Change Resolution is in part a plan to ban campfires.  Because campfires generate energy using a renewable resource this is not something the resolution is calling for. 

Rumor: This a ploy to get the US to ratify the Kyoto agreement.  No.  We want a new plan with US leadership that will also protect our economy.

Rumor: Polar Bears will actually thrive in warming waters.  Not that we’ve heard, but that would be great. 

Rumor:  The science is bunk.  According to the overwhelming majority of scientists around the world, the science on global warming is sound.

On another note, last week Sen. Chris Dodd became the first presidential candidate to endorse the resolution. Read about it here.

Nothing in The Political Climate or Carbon Coalition communications is meant to imply an endorsement of any candidate or political party.

Despite last weekend’s nor’easter and 15 Town Meeting cancellations, the Climate Change Resolution has had overwhelming success across the state.  As of right now 143 towns have passed the resolution, 8 have not, and 5 have chosen to “table” it.  Granite Staters have made it clear–we want action at a national and local level on global warming and we are ready to send this message to the 2008 presidential candidates.

In fact, Carbon Coalition volunteers have already begun to inform the candidates about the success of the resolution.  On Saturday the volunteer in Plainfield had the opportunity to meet Barack Obama in Claremont.  She wrote an email about her experience:

“I had the opportunity to ask Barack Obama a question on Friday when he came to speak at the Earl Bourdon Center in Claremont, NH.  I told him my town, along with nearly 200 other towns, would be voting on a climate change resolution and asked him to lay out his priorities to address climate change.  I also expressed concern that he had re-introduced a bill that focuses on converting coal to liquid fuel.  Hopefully, others will refer to these resolutions as they question presidential candidates as well.”

Another volunteer from Barrington accompanied me to the McCain event at the Exeter Town Hall yesterday.  We handed out “Stop Global Warming” stickers and pins as people entered the hall.  I was called crazy by one man and a few people sniped “you actually believe in that stuff.”  I managed to bite my tongue and smile which I was thankful for later because during McCain’s opening remarks he actually addressed these comments.  He pleaded to those in the room who are climate change “skeptics” to hear him out, and then he proceeded with the “suppose that we are wrong” spiel: basically, what harm is there if all we do is leave our children a cleaner world?  At the end of the end of the Town Hall Meeting the Carbon Coalition volunteer managed to push his way through the crowd, shake hands with McCain, and hand him a Carbon Coalition pin that McCain happily accepted.

According to this article in the New York Times, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that this winter, between December and February, was the warmest winter season world-wide ever recorded.  The next warmest winter on record was 2004 and then 1998.  In fact, since 1995 we’ve seen the ten warmest years ever recorded. 

Fortunately, the Granite State will be buzzing with presidential candidates this weekend, providing a perfect opportunity for us to ask them how they plan to address these warming trends.  Sen. Barack Obama, who’s called global warming “one of the major tests of our generation,” will be in Keene and Claremont tonight.  Sen. Chris Dodd will visit Bedford, Hampton, and Concord this weekend.  Dodd has said “the critically important challenges of global warming, and threats to our rivers and air can’t be ignored and need to be addressed.”   Sen. Joe Biden will be in Manchester on Saturday.  Last week he told an audience in South Carolina “If I could wave a wand, and the Lord said I could solve one problem, I would solve the energy crisis. That’s the single most consequential problem we can solve. It’s what you have to do to get greenhouse gases under control.”  And Sen. McCain will make his first visit to the state since he officially declared his candidacy.  McCain has said, “Americans solve problems. We don’t run from them.  We all know that greenhouse gases are accumulating in the atmosphere and the effects of this change are already being observed today.  The consequences of inaction pose a serious and unacceptable threat to our environment, our economy, and U.S. national security.”

Agreed.  So how do you plan to address these challenges?

When I arrived at the packed John Edwards event at St. Anselm’s College today, I tracked down a suit-clad campaign staffer and asked him to give Edwards a Carbon Coalition “Stop Global Warming” lapel sticker.  “I’ll give it to him, but I don’t think he’ll wear it,” he said “but he had on one of those bracelets recently.”  I had seen the photo–Edwards, surrounded by a group of college students, sporting a bright red wrist band–and it’s great, but it was taken in Colorado, not New Hampshire. 

I was a little miffed when Edwards came out onto the stage looking clean-cut and sticker-free, but I was quickly contented when he began his speech.  In his opening remarks he reminded the audience that the last time he spoke in NH was three years ago while running for vice president.  “A lot has changed in those three years,” he said, and then provided the current status of many national issues such as health care, poverty, education, and global warming.  There is “overwhelming evidence of the increase in temperature on earth, global warming,” but he continued “I’m still optimistic.”  “Everything we do at home affects the world…we need to lead by example.”

Edwards not only mentioned global warming,  but he also included it as one of the priority focuses of his speech.  “Global warming is a crisis now and it is not going away.  If you’re under 60, the odds are global warming will affect your life.”  He called for a national cap on carbon emissions and investment in renewable energy technologies (hmm, I’ve heard a similar idea somewhere…)  He also announced that his campaign will be carbon neutral, and challenged all the presidential candidates to make the same pledge.

Including global warming as one of his priority issues, Edwards is making a clear statement.  I shook his hand after his speech and offered a Carbon Coalition sticker for a photo.  He took the picture, but declined the sticker.  If he’s really serious about global warming he better pay attention to what’s happening in the Granite State–as of today 113 towns have passed the climate change resolution, and only 9 have defeated it.