I’m getting a sense of deja vu: a Republican candidate for president, protective of wealthy interests, choosing a running mate who is wedded to fossil fuel interests. John McCain’s choice of Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential candidate is parallel to George Bush’s choice, eight years ago, of Dick Cheney to be his running mate.
Governor Palin supports drilling for oil in the Arctic Natiional Wildlife Refuge, has proposed eliminating Alaska’s gas tax, and opposes a windfall profits tax on oil companies (more here on her record.) Just as Dick Cheney is from Wyoming, a state whose economy rests on extracting and exporting coal, Governor Palin is from Alaska, a state whose economy is based on oil.
The problem: burning coal and oil create carbon dioxide, the prime cause of global warming. Why would we elect leaders wedded to these business interests?
We need to back and support political leaders who are strong enough to deal with the truth, and tell us the truth, i.e. we have to sharply reduce our consumption of fossil fuels. Politicians like Governor Palin are in no position to do this, and in my view, are ethically compromised as leaders, however upright they might be on the microlevel of personal ethics.
Our job as citizens doesn’t stop with voting for the best possible candidate. We have to drive the political conversations toward the core topics. The Democrats are doing only slightly better than the Republicans on dealing with global warming. We should be pressing both parties, and our own households, with the question:
What is your plan to reduce carbon emissions by 70% , as science has made clear we have to do?
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6 responses so far ↓
1 Jamie // Aug 30, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I couldn’t agree more! I’m not 100% sure that we, as humans, are creating the conditions that we’re seeing on our planet and calling global warming (I personally believe that we’re contributing to an already natural cycle that the earth and sun are a part of). However, I also completely agree that we all need to do our part by lessening our impact upon this earth.
Whether you’re for drilling or not or mining more coal or not, Obama put it perfectly the other night when he said “It’s just a stop-gap” - we, as humans of this earth, need to make a commitment to use the RENEWABLE resources that are all around us. I’ve been hearing about solar and wind energy since I was a kid (I’m 35 now), and we’re still powering our cars and houses with fossil fuels? This, for me, is the one area that will likely sway my vote this time around for the candidate on the left side of the isle.
BTW… nice site!
2 Alison // Sep 1, 2008 at 6:06 am
Jamie,
Oh yes. Renewable resources are definitely our future, in tandem with using much less energy, period.
I’m happy you’re visiting Diamond-Cut Life — my exact intention is to be engaging folks like you who are middle-of-the-road and not already ‘deep green’. I hope you visit again and dialogue some more!
Alison
3 Jessica Thompson // Sep 3, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I think like a “deep green” but act like a chartreuse!! I want to do better and I want America to do better. What we need is great leadership. I’m not long for this country if McPalin is elected. She just referred to the Iraq war as “God’s plan” in a speech to her hometown church. Yikes!!!
4 Alison // Sep 4, 2008 at 6:38 am
Jessica, I see ‘doing better’ (living with a lighter carbon footprint) as something we definitely have to do in community, encouraging each other steadily.
What I don’t like of what I’m seeing right now (the day after Gov. Palin’s speech) is women pressuring each other to support Governor Palin because she is a woman and because Hillary didn’t get the Democratic nomination. I call those thinking errors. We’re humans first and women second, and if we don’t address global warming effectively, there won’t be a civilization that’s fit for women (or others) to inhabit. I think Gov. Palin is less qualified than others, on this basis.
5 Micki Carrier // Sep 15, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Oh dear, we have gotten sidetracked on glamour! Oops! Talk about a pretty wolf in sheep’s clothing! What could possibly be the reason for opposing windfall profit taxes for oil companies? Might there be a connection between that and-well, ALASKA’s coffers? Let’s hope that we come to our senses and recognize who the real leader for change is: Obama….though he, too, is playing the game to some degree. We can press him for change, but let’s get him into office first!….Micki Carrier
6 Alison // Sep 16, 2008 at 8:08 am
Well said, Micki.
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