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

Three of the top GOP contenders formally filed for their candidacy yesterday and scribbled a note on a poster commemorating their presidential run.  John McCain signed “He’s Ba-a-ack,” Rudy Giuliani penned “God Bless America,” and Ron Paul scribed “For Liberty.”  

Giuliani held a town hall in Lebanon later on last night, and while there wasn’t much in the way of climate change talk, Giuliani did have time to talk a little baseball.  The Union Leader reported that Giuliani will root for the Red Sox in the World Series - “it makes me feel better if the team that was ahead of the Yankees wins the World Series - then I feel we’re not that bad.”  For some reason I am reminded of the popular NE bumper sticker “I root for two teams:  the Red Sox and anybody who is playing the Yankees.” 

After announcing his candidacy in Concord, McCain warmed up a Hampton crowd with a few of his famous Mo Udall jokes before getting serious.  McCain’s first issue of discussion for the night was climate change.  McCain stated:

“I am not saying that these forest fires that your are hearing about in California are a direct result of climate change, but I will say to you that we are experiencing weather and conditions such as sever droughts all across the Southwest that are symptoms of the violent climate conditions that result from climate change.”

For ten years now scientists have warned about an increase in wild-fires caused by climate change.  In 1998 the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory released a report that found that ”in most cases, climate change would lead to dramatic increases in both the annual area burned by California wildfires and the number of potentially catastrophic fires — doubling these losses in some regions.”

Back in Hampton, an audience member asked what he thought about the other GOP candidate’s climate change plans.  McCain responded “I have not seen any plans from the other candidates” and then touted his work in the senate where he tried to pass an emissions reduction bill.

When asked about what he would tackle within the first 100 days of his presidency, McCain included climate change among the top four issues.

Listen to audio of McCain in Hampton

There has been a lot of talk about climate change among the GOP field lately.  Recently, the Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP) threw their support behind Sen. McCain as the candidate they hope to see lead the charge.  REP policy director, Jim DiPeso, comments on the endorsement in his blog The Daily Green. 

DisPeso writes that “Today, climate change is the topic of the hour” and “Republicans are climbing aboard the bandwagon.”  He notes the increased bipartisan work in congress for cap-and-trade legislation stating that “congress is debating how, not whether” and that “business leaders, states, cities, conservationists, academics, and ordinary citizens have accepted the science, moved on, and are ready to discuss practical solutions.”

DisPeso writes that ”No other GOP candidate has given the interrelated web of energy and climate issues the kind of thoughtful consideration or offered the legislative solutions that he [McCain] has”, and ”most importantly for Republicans, he has framed the issue in conservative terms.”

In another entry titled “Global Warming is a Republican Issue.  Here’s Why” DisPeso wrote concerning Al Gore and climate change that “it was inevitable that his high-profile association would give the issue an ideological tinge that does not serve the broader public interest.”

DisPeso urges his Republican friends to remember how conservative values such as prudence and responsibility “dictate that we act.”  He notes that “knuckle-dragging on climate issues is causing regulatory uncertainty and stifling opportunities to grow clean energy technology markets.”

Dispeso cites four reasons for why conservatives should about climate change more than Gore and get out in front of the climate issue:

1) Lowering oil dependence would be good for security.
2) Developing new energy sources would boost the economy.
3) Ceding the issue to liberals is dumb politically and an irresponsible abdication of leadership.
4) Good stewardship is every conservative’s moral obligation.

To date, McCain and Huckabee are the only Republican candidates who support specific actions to combat climate change such as cap and trade and raising fuel economy standards.  As the debate over “how” picks up between these Republican contenders, one can only wonder if other candidates such as Romney and Giuliani will join them. 

Check out what all the candidates have been saying about Global Warming in NH.

The Marshall Plan joined the Apollo Project and The Manhattan Project as the newest name for the climate action.  Governor Richardson followed his appearance at the Global Warming & Energy Solutions Conference with an Op-Ed calling for a Marshall Plan to fight global warming in last Friday’s Union Leader.  Richardson writes:

“We need a Marshall Plan for the 21st Century that partners developed nations, the U.N., non-profit organizations, and the private sector in a massive, multilateral effort. We will assist the developing world in stimulating economic opportunity, protecting the environment, combating pandemics, and conserving water supplies.”

I caught Richardson this weekend at a house party in Durham.  Richardson once again addressed climate change in his stump speech, stating that energy was his “signature issue.”

During Q&A Richardson described as President what his relationship will be with the private energy sector.  He stated:

“Here is what my relationship will be with the energy sector. The first thing that I would do, is I would take away the subsidies for oil, coal, and nuclear. I’d make no bones that I think the future is in renewables and renewable fuels, so I would switch those (subsidies) directly.”

Federal budget planning is an important part of any Presidential Leadership Agenda on climate change.

Listen to audio of Richardson in Durham.

Senator Chris Dodd and host Laura Knoy dedicated a decent portion of time to climate and energy issues on The Exchange this morning.  Dodd is the only candidate running for president who advocates the implementation of a corporate carbon tax.  Dodd recognizes that in New Hampshire there is a stigma attached to the word ‘tax,’ but urged people to not ignore the fact that we are paying for ”a billion dollars every day to buy foreign oil.”  On the issue of price Dodd explained:

“If you do not deal with price, then you are always going to have a problem moving to the alternatives because average families can not make the decisions about cleaner technologies when you are trying to put food on the table or take care of a mortgage or a rent.”

Many advocates for a cap and trade system, including each of Dodd’s Democratic competition, believe that a cap and trade would achieve similar ends.  Watch this E&ETV video comparing the carbon tax and cap and trade approach.

Both the carbon tax and cap and trade approaches would create revenue.  Dodd says that his corporate carbon tax will create 50 billion dollars.  With this revenue, Dodd hopes to ”fast track” cleaner forms of energy like cellulosic ethanol from switch-grass, corn, and wood and provide assistance to low income families hurt by the increased energy prices.

Dodd criticized his running mates for not being honest with the American people about nuclear power.  Dodd made it clear that he does not “take nuclear power off the table.  We have serious issues of waste and transportation that need to be dealt with, but I think that if you are going to be honest about global warming, you can’t avoid the fact that 53% of our grid is operated on a coal base.  So you are going to have to talk about an alternative.”

Dodd continues to make climate and energy a centerpiece of his campaign while his ideas provide diversity to the climate change discourse in the Democratic field.

Listen to Dodd on The Exchange