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

With student marches and rallies crowding the climate action calendar in the Granite State over the past week, we want to make sure that two key international events do not go unnoticed to our readers. 

The New York Times reported at the end of last week that Russia had reached the North Pole on a mission to plant a flag on the bottom of the Arctic Sea and lay claim to the land.

Russia may be listening to the broad consensus within the scientific community that the polar ice caps are receding due to global warming.  The possibility of Russian Arctic drilling is another example of why the president of the United States needs to engage all international partners in a cooperative effort to combat climate change.

The Arctic news broke at the same time as President George Bush announced that the U.S. will host the leaders of the world’s major economies for a conference on climate change on September 27-28.  The Washington Post reported that Bush insisted that the U.S. ”is committed to collaborating with other major economies on a new global framework for curbing greenhouse gas emissions.”  Critics believe that he is undercutting other international efforts to avoid emissions caps and specific targets, although others say the fact that Bush is facilitating international discussion is an important signal.

The final line of the Washington Post article predicted that “Bush is likely to be out of office by the time any post-Kyoto deal is clinched.”  This means that it will be up to the next president, one of the many candidates who are flooding New Hampshire, to engage all nations.

If you want to see all of your hard work and sacrifice succeed in combating climate change, then get out there and ask the candidates how they will engage international partners.