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

Today I begin a three-day run of pinch-hitting for your usual blogger. Before leaving, however, she did go to see John Edwards in Bedford on Friday. In addition to snapping this photo of the candidate holding a Carbon Coalition sign (the bottom half says “Global Warming,” in case you were wondering) she asked him a question about what he would do if he was representing the US at the G8 Summit. He doesn’t answer the exact question, but his response was comprehensive. Here you go:

“Well, I think America has no credibility when a dealing with global warming because we are the worst polluter on the planet…we cannot go to China and India and fashion a global solution to this problem until we first clean up our act. So here’s what I’d do, let me give you specifics….”

He then goes into specifics: 1. reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050; 2. auction carbon credits and use ”a big chunk” of that money to invest in renewables, develop carbon sequestration/capture technology, and build the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the planet; 3. raise fuel-efficiency standards; 4. ban building more coal-fired power plants; and, 5. open up electric grid to greater competition. With these done we can “go to China and India and say, we want to work with you…and we we ought to do is say work with us, we want to solve this problem forever. We’re cleaning up our act and we either have developed or we are developing the technology that will make that successful and we would like to make that technology available to you as part of the bargaining process.” Check back later this week for the audio.

Meanwhile, we are told that Senator Obama is experiencing a disconnect between the needs of his current constituency in Illinois and his wished-for constituency (the US of A), on the issue of liquid coal. Via Anne Havemann in Maryland:

“Some members of Congress are claiming that [liquid coal] is the right way to move America beyond oil. However, this tranportation fuel made from coal would actually double the global warming pollution coming from our cars and planes! Who supports this? A number of Senators including none other than Senator Barack Obama. That is totally unacceptable from a Senator who, on his website, has this to say about global warming: ‘We need to take steps to stop catastrophic, mandmade climate change. If we do not act, the consequences will be devastating for future generations, especially for the poorest global populations.’ “

For more information, visit the US Climate Emergency Council website.

To put this in context, China - nothing if not a beacon of environmental responsibility (joking, of course) - is considering abandoning its liquid coal projects.

It’s official, well, kind of.  Yesterday, after several days of negotiations at the G8 Summit in Germany, the US announced that it was going to “consider seriously” a plan that will cut worldwide greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050.  Basically, when all was said and done the US agreed that there will be more meetings, more discussions, and more negotiations on this issue in hopes that a continuing dialogue will eventually lead to a possible agreement. ???  Yeah, that’s what we think too.  But if you can look beyond the ambiguity and negotiations about more negotiations, the end result–that the US will even consider joining an international agreement concerning greenhouse gas emission targets–is quite significant.  (Read the entire New York Times article here.)

Global warming discussions in-country have been a little more cut and dry.  A new bill drafted bill by Rep. Rick Bouchard of Virginia aims to prohibit the EPA from granting California - and the 11 other states following in its footsteps - the waiver necessary to impose state tailpipe emission standards.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has vowed to fight the bill every step of the way: “Any proposal that affects California’s landmark efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or eliminate the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions will not have my support.”  (Read the entire article from the Washington Post here.)

This morning Senator John McCain took a break from debate preparations to make a stop at the Gilford Fire Station where he spoke to a packed crowd.  Local high school students and other members of the crowd (including my 86 year-old grandmother) sported “Stop Global Warming” stickers, and after his “Straight Talk” Sen. McCain slapped on a sticker and joined in the trend.

After a few welcoming remarks McCain opened up the floor to questions, and I managed to be third in line.  My question to the Senator was if he were in President Bush’s shoes at the G8 Summit this week, what would he propose the international community should do to address the threats of climate change.  Well, in typical political fashion he did not answer the question–he didn’t really even come close.  However, he did rattle off his global warming spiel, and I was fairly impressed considering most of the other candidates in his party chose to go with the “if it is happening” hedge instead of the “it is happening” reality. 

McCain stated that when he last ran for office he didn’t know much about global warming, and that quite frankly he wasn’t at all concerned with it.  That’s changed he said, and now he recognizes that global warming is “real,” is happening now, and is a “real danger to our future.”  He said he is convinced that if we continue to ignore it then we will give future generations a very different planet.  He continued by saying we need to develop more alternatives and take a fresh look at nuclear energy.  After the event I made my way through the crowd to follow up about a cap and trade system.  McCain said he meant to mention that in his speech, he was sorry he left it out, and that a cap and trade system–referencing the McCain-Lieberman bill that was “shot down twice”– is something that he definitely supports. 

Hopefully tonight McCain will continue this “global warming is real” talk and pressure his colleagues to do the same. 

In preparation for next week’s G8 summit in Germany, where global warming is expected to be a priority focus, President Bush delivered a speech on climate change today at the White House.  His speech outlined a proposal to “establish a new framework for greenhouse gas emissions for when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.”  The aim is to develop a “long-term global goal” that the US and 15 other nations (emitters that produce roughly 80% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions) agree to reach.  The President proposed the following:

“Each country would establish midterm management targets and programs that reflect their own mix of energy sources and future needs…it’s important to ensure that we get results, and so we will create a strong and transparent system for measuring each country’s performance…The US will work with all nations that are part of this convention to adapt to the impacts of climate change, gain access to clean and more energy-efficient technologies, and promote sustainable forestry and agriculture.” (Read more of his speech here.)

The President’s plan includes eliminating tariff barriers so that the international community can share technology innovations.

Interest groups are already complimenting and criticizing the President’s proposed plan. 

The fact that the President is talking about a long-term, international global warming agreement, will serve as a baseline against which Republican candidates must communicate and benchmark their climate proposals.  We hope to hear from these candidates in New Hampshire.