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

A FOTPC had the opportunity to see Sen. Obama in Conway last Sunday.  Here’s what he wrote:

“Barack Obama’s Memorial Day weekend Town Hall in Conway was the largest political event anyone here can remember.  The curiosity of voters in the greater Mt. Washington Valley brought a mixed crowd of over a thousand Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.  The line to get in extended over a hundred yards to the back parking lot behind the school and many of those in the media saw that as part of the story.  The event was of a non-partisan “let’s get to know one another” nature so there were no campaign signs or rally cards.

Typical of town meetings, any particular question prompts a standard response to the category of the question, with a sentence or two tailored to the actual question.  The climate change/clean energy question began with stating the number of towns that had passed the NH Climate Change Resolution, during which Obama nodded as if has heard this before, or perhaps in affirmation of our effort.  The questioner went on with his personal agenda which was to point out that the nuclear energy industry and its supporters may be using our energy crisis as a means to jumpstart their cause.

‘There is no silver bullet to meeting our energy needs,’ Obama responded, ‘but we know we can’t drill our way out of this problem.  I love solar and I love wind but they have limits and so we need a range of strategies.’  He went on to praise the alternative energy work being done at UNH and declared that we need an Apollo-like national energy goal that will inspire a whole generation of engineers and scientists.  Obama referred to speeches he has given in Detroit urging higher fuel economy and being met with long stretches of stony silence. 

Obama proposes a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard with progressive carbon reduction limits.  With this standard in place as well as a cap and trade system for power  producers, you can then ‘leave it to the marketplace’ to find the most effective solutions.  The solution to the climate change problem will be a result of a market-driven response to carbon emissions limits which will require the actual passage of legislation.

Some time next month House Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard will present Nancy Pelosi a plan that will make the House of Representatives carbon neutral by the end of the current Congress.  Every year the House, the Senate, and other supporting agencies, emit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that would be produced by 57,455 cars–that’s pretty significant.  But making attempts to become carbon neutral in the biggest House in the country is a much more significant (and symbolic) effort than just the act alone.  In a speech to the Senate last month, Sen. Kerry said “we need to lead by example on the environment by setting a bold goal of making our Capitol and Congress energy efficient and fighting for clean coal and renewable sources of energy.”

Speaking of D.C., this article explains Rep. Ed Markey’s motivation for getting members of the new House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming ”out of Washington, D.C., where concern about this issue has lagged.”  And NH was the obvious state of choice to host a global warming summit on June 4th.  According to this article from the Associated Press, Markey chose NH because “about 160 towns adopted a resolution earlier this year calling for action to address climate change.”  Granite Staters certainly are not lagging on this issue.  Hopefully the summit’s location–on top of Cannon Mountain with a backdrop of the White Mountains in Franconia Notch–will ignite the same spark under Committee members as it did to NH citizens.

Yesterday a FOTPC was in on a meeting with former Presidential candidate Gov. Tom Vilsack who was on a “green tour” of the Seacoast as a Clinton surrogate.  How much can you take away from this kind of event?  In keeping with the green theme, Vilsack talked a little about Sen. Clinton’s general environmental policy views with a few specifics (carbon cap and trade, for example).  The questions, with the exception of one about healthcare, focused on global warming.  Vilsack defended the cap and trade concept as superior to a carbon tax and understood the need for both incentives and a larger perspective to get citizens and local governments active in reducing their carbon footprints.  How much of this was Vilsack and how much Clinton is an open question.  By the way, Scott Spradling was in the room and one wonders if he noticed that the majority of the questions from NH citizens focused on global warming.  If so, maybe he would consider adding global warming to the list of candidate issues on the WMUR website. 

Theodore White wrote of John Kennedy that the president would often “lance with his wit the balloon of a poorly formed question.”  Or something like that; I’m reading White’s account of the 1964 election and it’s a marvelous record of history.  Picked it up in a used bookstore in Boston.

Anyway, the phrase seems to apply to the way today’s presidential candidates can get off the hook by lancing, with a sound bite, the  balloon of a global warming question.

That means we’ve got to meet and greet these people, and get down to the bottom line:

***Will they commit to a comprehensive climate agenda, to be developed and launched within 150 days of election day?***

How will global warming fit into their foreign policy priorities?

And does the plan include:

1. Legislation for economy-wide emissions reductions?
2. Federal planning for climate change impacts and response
3. Picking the right cabinet  to carry the plan forward?
4. Signals in the first budget presented to Congress that the plan must be funded?
5. Support for you and me to build efficiency and conservation into our homes and communities?
6. Aggressive R & D for low carbon energy technology?

Sure, we’re hearing about the targets and timetables  for greenhouse gas emissions reductions on this campaign trail.  Unfortunately, the targets and timetable sound bites threaten to lance any opportunity to get to the bottom line, to get commitments to a 150 day plan of action.

***If you want to choke off future sound bites, the Granite State Conservation Voters is ready to help prepare you and your friends ask candidates about global warming.***

Four mini workshops in different parts of the state will help you persuade the next president to make global warming a top priority.  Drop by one of the 5 bird-dog training workshops in June:

• June 2, 9:30-11:30, Cornish
• June 7, 6:00-8:00pm, Durham
• June 9, 10:00-12:00, Derry
• June 13, 11:30-1:30, Concord (after the Proclamation)
• June 14, 6:30-8:30, Conway

For more information go here.

To RSVP contact Bruce Clendenning at 228-1970 or Bruce@VoteConservation.org

“Well, son, I think soccer moms and NASCAR dads are coupling to make a baby global warming voting bloc.  And this baby is sure to grow.”

Here are three snippets that might help illustrate that extended metaphor:

1.  Dodd’s latest NH ad is on global warming, and dares his fellow candidates to follow his lead.

2.  TPC learned this morning that the NH Obama campaign is beginning to troll for global warming voters.  Candidate Obama will be here this weekend so MAKE SURE to tell him we expect a comprehensive climate plan.

3.  A Minnesota Republican sent us Romney’s answer to the question, “Is global warming real?’ posed by a reporter today on KTRS radio in St. Louis.  Romney said:

 ”global warming is real, human activity is contributing to it while it’s degree of role in warming can be debated , we need a Manhattan ‘like’ project or Apollo ’style’ program to develop alternative energy, carbon sequestering to address the issue.”

In response, the listener (and new Friend of TPC) said, “nothing like a trip to the woodshed in November to at least change the way they talk.”

TPC just received an email from another FOTPC who had the opportunity to attend two Obama events last weekend.  Here’s what she said:

“The first was the May 18th Rye town hall event.  I had my hand raised, but a Carbon Coalition volunteer beat me to it, and did a great job! [Obama’s] response was:

• Increase fuel efficiency first and foremost–he mentioned a 4% increase per year
• Alternative fuels for cars and other sectors (did not explicitly mention coal-to-liquid, though we know he supports that, which actually increases greenhouse gas emissions)
• Energy efficiency measures

The second event was his canvass kick-off on Sat. May 19th.  He didn’t say much, but [hammered] on fuel efficiency and getting off oil, and mentioned climate change a couple of times.”