By Robin Shreeves •
November 5, 2008
It’s been unusually quiet here on Sustainablog the past few days. I assume everyone was gearing up for yesterday. Perhaps we were all reading up on the issues we’d be voting for in our individual states. Perhaps we were out canvasing our neighborhoods, encouraging people to vote. Or, perhaps we were simply biting our nails in anticipation of yesterday instead of writing. But yesterday is over, and our country has a new president-elect, Barack Obama.
Congratulations, Senator Obama. You and your family have much to celebrate today. Your victory is historic and symbolic, but more importantly it is real. You will be President of the United States of America. You will be “the most powerful man in the world,” and the eyes of the world are on you. We’ll be looking for those changes you promised. Specifically around this blog, we’ll be looking for the changes you make in the environment.
By Tom Schueneman •
November 2, 2008
As of last Friday, the number of Nobel Laureates endorsing Barack Obama for president has risen to 76, saying Obama will end Bush-era trashing of scientific research, integrity, and competitiveness.
By Joe Mohr •
October 30, 2008
Water is the New Terrorism
It was often highlighted after the infamous tragedies of September 11th that terrorism was hardly discussed or barely even mentioned during the campaigning that led up to the 2000 election (Al vs. W). Searching for a way the horrible acts could have been avoided led to a lot of finger pointing and mudslinging on both sides (that I won’t get into again here).
I bring this up only because I see a similar looming issue (crisis in some areas of the US) that is not being given the attention that I am confident it deserves. An issue that I see us looking back on–as we did terrorism–and thinking: “How could this have been prevented?” or “Look at the campaign of ‘08. The two candidates hardly mentioned water pollution and conservation issues.”
The two most notable offerings were answers to specific questions–one from Science Debate 2008 and one from DISCOVER.
When asked by DISCOVER contributor Thomas Kostigen,
Ensuring an adequate water supply is a huge issue, arguably a bigger challenge than energy. Recent estimates say we are going to have to increase our supply of freshwater by 20 percent in the next 20 years to meet world demand. Two-thirds of the world’s population will experience water shortages by 2025. Meanwhile, the Clean Water Act hasn’t been updated since 1972. What plans do you have for addressing the freshwater issue?
here is how our candidates responded:
By Derek Markham •
October 1, 2008
Voting in the Presidential election is one of America’s grand traditions, and now your children can participate!
Kids are invited to vote in their very own Presidential Election at CurrClick! Educate your kids about the election process and make a statement about the powerful voice of the children!
Polls open on October 1st and will remain open until November 4th.
I checked the tally so far, and McCain is the leader by a big margin. Help close the gap by voting for the candidates that are focused on greening our country and waging peace!
By Jerry James Stone •
August 23, 2008
Biden comes with mad experience. As a sixth term Senator - that’s 34 in people years - he can assuage a lot of those concerns. Also as Chair of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, that’s just one more thorn he pulls from the Obama camp’s side.
By Jason Phillip •
February 4, 2008
Still undecided about how you’ll vote on Super Duper Woozy Tuesday? If you live in one of the 20+ states holding presidential primaries or caucuses on Feb. 5, you’ve had a long primary season to settle on a candidate. Nonetheless, a lot of us find ourselves with our minds not yet made up about which of the remaining contenders should get our support. Whether it’s because our first choice has dropped out of the race, or the similarities in the remaining candidates’ platforms, voters can be forgiven for feeling like they won’t be able to enter the voting booth with rock-solid conviction this week.
But the 2008 presidential election is too momentous to simply throw up your hands and flip a coin — or to allow yourself to be swayed by a strictly emotional reaction to the candidates. The next president’s administration will have to deal with a slew of problems facing the country, and global climate change is just one of them. If you care about environmental issues and want your political leaders to take the lead on addressing the root causes of environmental degradation that have gone unmitigated during the last several years, you’re going to want to vote for a candidate who puts the environment at the top of his or her agenda — right up there with the Iraq war, the economy, health care, and immigration reform.
So how do you find out which candidates support the environmental issues that matter to you? It’s hasn’t been easy to tell from mainstream press coverage because the environment has gotten pushed to the back burner by more hot-button issues during the campaign. But a number of online sources have done the homework for us, and offer helpful side-by-side comparisons of the environmental platforms on offer.
By Philip Proefrock •
December 21, 2007
Geek is becoming a badge of honor, rather than an epithet (but you knew that already, didn’t you). Popular Mechanics magazine has created a Geek the Vote site dedicated to examining some of the science and technology positions of 11 of the current crop of presidential candidates from both parties. While the site isn’t set up for side-by-side comparisons between candidates, it does make it possible to go through and see a condensation [...]
It’s been unusually quiet here on Sustainablog the past few days. I assume everyone was gearing up for yesterday. Perhaps we were all reading up on the issues we’d be voting for in our individual states. Perhaps we were out canvasing our neighborhoods, encouraging people to vote. Or, perhaps we were simply biting our nails in anticipation of yesterday instead of writing. But yesterday is over, and our country has a new president-elect, Barack Obama.
