Lady Sentinels

Global Warming: Presidential Race 2008

Something that has been coming up quite a bit in the 2008 Presidential race is the issue of GLOBAL WARMING and what the candidates’ plans are to remedy this problem. For those of you who are not in the loop, let me give you a definition. Global warming: an increase in the world's temperatures, believed to be caused in part by the greenhouse effect, which is basically the warming of the Earth's surface as a result of atmospheric pollution by gases. There are many who think that global warming is a “myth,” and then there are those who are extremely passionate about preventing it. Let me start off by showing you some of the views of the American public on this topic and then comparing how they align with the ideas of the Presidential candidates.

In a poll taken by Time Magazine, it was asked “Do you think the Federal Government should do more to try to deal with global warming?” Thirty-five percent thought that the Federal Government should be doing more, while five percent thought it should do less, and twenty-five percent were content with the way the government is handling the issue. Another poll taken by Time Magazine gave different examples of ways the government could try to reduce global warming and asked which one the people favored most. Nineteen percent thought that the government should increase taxes on electricity so that people wouldn’t use it as much or as carelessly. Thirty-one percent thought that they should increase taxes on gasoline so that people wouldn’t use it as much. Forty-one percent thought that should give companies tax breaks to build nuclear power plants. And a whopping eighty-seven percent thought that the government should give companies tax breaks to develop alternative energy sources. On just the simple question of whether or not people even believe it exists, FOX News came up with some results. They found that eighty-two percent of Americans say they believe in global warming, ten percent disagree, and eight percent are on sure. An interesting find by FOX News was that ninety-one percent of Democrats and eighty-four percent of independents believe that global warming is a problem while only seventy-two percent of Republicans agree. There are mixed views about whether or not global warming is a direct result of human behavior, or whether human behavior combined with natural occurrences is causing the problem.

Now the question is, what do our Presidential candidates have to say about the problem?


Let’s start with the Democratic Party. After visiting Barack Obama’s website, it is quite clear that he has a large and extensive plan for the prevention of global warming if he is elected President. Some of the specifics of his plan are as follows:

*To reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level recommended by top scientists to avoid calamitous impacts.
*To invest $150 billion over the next 10 years; deploy climate friendly energy supplies, protect our existing manufacturing base, and create millions of new jobs.
*To improve energy efficiency to reduce energy intensity of our economy by 50% by the year 2030.
*To reduce dependence on foreign oil; reduce oil consumption overall by at least 35% (10 million barrels of oil) by the year 2030.
*To make the United States of America a leader in the global effort, leading a new, international global warming partnership.

Something Barack said himself concerning climate change was, “The issue
of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril. There may still be disputes about exactly how much is naturally occurring, but what we can be scientifically certain of is that our continued use of fossil fuels is pushing us to a point of no return. And unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels and chart a new course on energy in this country, we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe.”

Let’s now take a look at what Hillary Clinton plans to do about global warming. Some of the specifics of her plan are as follows:

*To reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by the year 2050; cut foreign oil imports by 2/3 from 2030 projected levels (10 million barrels a day).
*$50 billion Strategic Energy Fund and doubling investment in basic energy research.
*To increase fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by the year 2030.
*A cap and trade system for carbon emissions, stronger energy, and auto efficiency standards.

A direct quote from Hillary when speaking at the National Press Club about
global warming was, “Our values demand that we be good stewards of the planet for our children and our children’s children. We are failing that simple moral test if we continue to stand by as the earth warms faster than at any time in the past 200,000 years.”


Now, it’s time to see what the Republican Party has in store for the environment. Mike Huckabee stated on his website, “The first thing I will do as President is send Congress my comprehensive plan for energy independence. We will achieve energy independence by the end of my second term. Achieving energy independence is vital to achieving success both in the war on terror and in globalization. Energy independence will help guarantee both our safety and our prosperity.”

Some of the specifics of Huckabee’s global warming plan are as follows:

*To pursue all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass.
*To set aside a federal research and development budget that will be matched by the private sector to seek the best new products in alternative fuels.
*To become energy independent in less than 10 years.

John McCain is also speaking up about global warming. He says, “I believe
climate change is real. I think it’s devastating. I think we have to act and I agree with most experts that we may at some point reach a tipping point where we cannot save our climate. I don’t think we’re there yet. But the overwhelming evidence is that greenhouse gases are contributing to the warming of our earth and we have an obligation to take action to fix it.”

Some of the specifics of McCain’s global warming plan are as follows:

*To limit carbon emissions by harnessing market forces that will bring advanced technologies, such as nuclear energy, to the market faster.
*To reduce our dependence on foreign supplies of energy.


Looking at what the people of America want and what the 2008 Presidential
candidates are proposing to do if they are elected, I would say that Republican Mike Huckabee’s plan would be very appealing to the American people. After reading his whole spiel about global warming on his official website, I got the impression that he was very passionate about this topic and was ready to do what other candidates probably haven’t even thought of, like becoming energy independent within 10 years. Also, his plan to focus on pursuing and researching alternative sources of energy is compatible to the American people’s desire to give companies tax breaks to develop alternative energy sources.

An article written by Edmund L. Andrews in the New York Times talks about the differences between the Democratic candidates’ approaches to the issue of global warming and the Republicans’. He says that the Democrats’ goal is “largely about reducing oil consumption,” while the Republicans’ goal is more about “producing more energy at home.”

Bottom line, these four candidates, and I’m sure several others which I have not mentioned, are ready to face the problem of global warming head on, which is good to know for those of us who are environment crazy. And which, I’m sure, if our candidates pull through, generations to come will be very grateful for.

Labels: global warming presidential race 2008

posted by APGovproject @ 8:06 PM