Green Options

This is a guest post from freelance environmental writer Tom Schueneman, who also publishes GlobalWarmingisReal.com

A Police State in Minneapolis and St. Paul?

Using the the phrase “police state” could seem a little incendiary in itself, but the rash of house raids and questionable arrests taking place all over Minneapolis and St. Paul in the past few days is chilling.

I first heard about it from a friend living in Minneapolis last Saturday, who sent me some links and video of the aftermath of the police raids on at least four houses in the area.

Dressed in full SWAT gear with assault rifles drawn, the police referred to themselves during the raid with pseudonyms such as “terminator” and “the executioner” - I guess for that full “SWAT” effect.

Occupants where handcuffed and forced to lay on the ground while police confiscated computers, personal journals, and other common household items (that theoretically could be used to make bombs - have you looked around in your garage lately?).

>>More convention coverage at RG&B>>

This was a big week for our Presidential candidates and energy policy, specifically domestic oil drilling. With the recent decision by a House Sub-committee to continue the ban on more offshore drilling, spirited discussion regarding domestic oil has sprung up everywhere. This week John McCain extended his support for offshore drilling, stating that he thinks the ban should be lifted however he also made the statement that he opposes any drilling of ANWR. Barack Obama opposes lifting the ban on offshore drilling and ANWR drilling.

As Americans, we have a lot to think about. The fact is we do have domestic oil that we are not extracting. Geologists report we have billions of barrels in both the Bakkan Shale and ANWR. Why is John McCain in favor of lifting the offshore drilling ban while at the same time opposed to ANWR drilling? Is it politically convenient? Is it a possible attempt to satisfy both sides of a debate? Why is Barack Obama opposed to all new domestic drilling? Despite the fact that offshore drilling is technologically at its best, we have other options in other areas.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist endorsed John McCain right before the Florida Republican primary. His endorsement might have been a significant factor in McCain winning the Florida primary, and subsequently the Republican nomination.

Speculation began immediately thereafter that Crist might make a great running mate for McCain, given his popularity in Florida, and his potential ability to swing the crucial electoral state toward McCain during the general [...]

When in Rome, right?

Despite the fact that he supported a moratorium on offshore drilling during his previous run for the White House and he has opposed drilling in Florida, North Carolina, Oregon and elsewhere, McCain will call for the elimination of that moratorium today in Houston.

McCain’s prepared remarks will be be well-received in Houston, arguably the oil capital of America. My point is this: When McCain is in Portland, Oregon he speaks at a Vestas Wind Energy facility and touts the benefits of renewable energy (but offers little policy support to back it up); when McCain is in Houston he calls for a gas tax holiday and lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling.

In short, the part of me that hears Sen. McCain speak about addressing climate change and developing “alternate energy sources” doesn’t jive with the part of me that reads his voting record on this stuff. And apparently, I’m not the only one.

Over the last month or so, I’ve been keeping my eye on a fantastic new project called On Day One (which I’ve written about here). The organizing theme behind the project is to help ’set the agenda’ for the next president of the United States by providing policy suggestions and political direction based on user-submitted material.

Now, On Day One is honing-in on the critical environmental issues of today in an upcoming five-day online debate co-sponsored with Grist.org’’s Gristmill, and UN Dispatch. And I am excited that I’ve been invited, along with Dave Roberts and Kate Sheppard from Grist, Nigel Purvis from the Brookings Institute and Resources for the Future, to be one of four online panelists invited to debate and discuss the user-submitted ideas - one idea a day throughout the week.

Editor’s note: Let the race begin! As Senator Obama is now the presumptive Democratic nominee, it’s time to start comparing his plans and record with that of presumptive Republican nominee Senator McCain. Our friends at Low Impact Living get the ball rolling… This post was originally published on Wednesday, June 4, 2008.

Now that we seem to have a Democratic candidate, we all need to be digging into the environmental views and policy plans of Senators Obama and McCain.

To help us sort it out, Reuters has published a featured called FACTBOX: U.S. Presidential Candidates on the Environment and Energy. It’s a good piece and we encourage you to read it. Here are some highlights:

On Climate Change

• Obama would cut carbon dioxide emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and require fuel suppliers to cut carbon content by 10 percent by 2020.
• McCain favors a cap-and-trade approach to carbon emissions. He sponsored legislation in 2007 to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2050.

Thus far, the Democrats have dominated the media’s attentions as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton battle it for the nomination. True, it is hard to ignore innuendos about RFK’s assassination; however, it is time we start paying attention to the Republican nominee John McCain. Personally, I can’t imagine he will be elected, but I have been wrong before with my election predictions, and it is important to know where he stands on climate change.

Two weeks ago while campaigning in Oregon, McCain stood amongst wind turbines to talk climate change:

Instead of idly debating the precise extent of global warming, or the precise timeline of global warming, we need to deal with the central facts of rising temperatures, rising waters, and all the endless troubles that global warming will bring. We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great.

I agree with McCain on many levels, but what exactly are his climate change strategies beyond political rhetoric? According to Plenty Magazine, “He proposes a cap-and-trade scheme that will limit greenhouse gas emissions to sixty percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050;” however, scientists, Obama, and Clinton recommend 80 percent reductions. McCain does not favor allowing companies to buy extra carbon allowances, and he supports carbon offsetting. The problem with McCain’s ideas on climate change is he supports tax payer subsidies for nuclear power and has voted several times against a renewable energy standard.

My colleague Jennifer Lance recently wrote that both of the major parties would be trying to “out-green” each other for this summer’s national conventions. Republicans and Democrats alike have made efforts to green (or appear to green) what is, for all intents and purposes, a very non-green affair. But Democrats want this August’s convention in Denver to serve as a blueprint for not only how to make a convention greener, but how to make the host city greener long after the convention has ended.

“We are hoping that everything we are doing for greening (the convention) has some legacy value,” said Parry Burnap, “greening” director for the host committee. The committee has launched plans for local river clean-ups, tree-planting and tree care events, and is sourcing its food from local and organic sources. Other programs aimed at leaving a legacy include (after the jump)…

Greenwash on warm and discard as needed

Has your newborn already outgrown those Ronald Reagan ‘Trickle-Down Diaper Covers’ that were hand-me-downs from your cousin? Well, the long wait is finally over, because you can now wrap your newest neo-cons in the soft organic cotton of the John McCain ‘Onesie.’ And no, I’m not kidding.

In conjunction with the unveiling of its climate change policy earlier this week, the McCain campaign has added a new “Go Green” section to its campaign store, where supporters can purchase various “eco-friendly items” to proudly display their political support for the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. No small children? Don’t despair. The collection also features the “men’s Bamboo Pique short sleeve solid polo shirt” and the “ladies’ Eco-friendly basic cap sleeve crew neck tee,” both of which are made in the USA with a 70/30 bamboo/organic cotton blend.

Oh, I admit it; I’ve fallen hard for Obama. Perhaps it is his handsome face or eloquent manner of speech, or perhaps it is because he is the first viable candidate (sorry Kucinich and Nader) to speak the truth. First, Obama opposed the gas tax holiday, designed to distract Americans from the bigger picture of our energy usage. Now, he is blaming the Iraq war for America’s utter failure as a climate leader.

Shortly after last week’s primaries, Obama stated:

I think the way we have run this war in Iraq has lessened our ability to move our allies. It has led us to ignore the critical needs for us to focus on a sound energy policy in this country. It has left us unable to lead on critical global issues like global warming. And it has led us to neglect what ultimately is the most important thing to keeping America safe, and that is having an economy that is the envy of the world and that gives us the resources and the power to project ourselves around the world.

I just stumbled across this video of the well-known author, activist, and environmental scholar Bill McKibben explaining that, while he has been actively supporting Barrack Obama as part of “environmentalists for Obama,” he thinks the most important task at hand is to elect a Democrat to the White House.

McKibben is a champion of the environmental movement and he made it clear that policy action on climate change will require broad-based and sustained political support for it. (Running time 4 mins.)