At any rate, under his "issues" button, John Edwards doesn't even have an environmental header. Nor does he have an energy button. Nothing. He apparently doesn't care about the environment at all. It's a non-issue for him.
And Edwards is another guy who is slated to attend Step It Up 2007. Oh Boy.
So far, I'm not real impressed with this event.
On another note, every single one of the candidates that I have looked at have the same exact header bar. They all seem to be clones... democrat or republican... clones, I tell you. We're in deep trouble. If they can't come up with their own header bar, how are we supposed to be able to tell the difference between their ideas? They are TRYING to all look the same, despite the millions of dollars they are raising to claim otherwise. Yikes...
However, Dennis Kucinich does actually address the environment. He mentions the world population (over population/carrying capacity?). He mentions "rejoining" the Kyoto treaty (twice...) - I wasn't aware we had ever signed the Kyoto treaty, which is one thing I'm still grumpy at Clinton about. Apparently Kucinich sponsored HR1950 - the Safe Climate Act of 2007. He falls just shy of mentioning "peak oil":
"Oil is also an immense sustainability issue. With the peak of U.S. oil production some decades in the past and the world facing inevitable shortages in the near future, a continuation of our present energy policies is a prescription for unending conflicts."
So he GETS it... he just wont SAY it...
BUT... similar to (or perhaps better than) my quest for an arms-style green energy race (whole new meaning to "cold war"), Kucinich has proposed a "Works Green Administration (WGA)". The WGA, a new version of the WPA (Works Progress Administration from the New Deal Era), would be coupled with NASA & the EPA to restore our infrastructure & provided sustainable energy at the same time. I can only imagine that this would mean a more European-style highway system, covered in solar panels (hey- it's better than billboards - but with today's technology you could actually have both at the same time & place).
"The United States under a Kucinich presidency would reverse the unsustainable actions in the following areas:
1) Energy consumption
2) Military spending
3) Economic and tax policy
4) Environmental policy
5) Land and water use"
He goes on to say some interesting things about water (a subject near & dear to my heart):
""All water shall be considered to be forever in the public domain. It shall be the duty of each nation to provide accessible, affordable drinking water to its peoples. There shall be public ownership of drinking water systems, subject to municipal control Wealthy nations shall provide poor nations with the means to obtain water for survival. Water shall be protected from commodification and exempted from all trade agreements. Water privatization shall not be a condition of debt restructuring, loan renewal or loan forgiveness. Governments shall use their powers to prevent private aggregation of water rights. Water shall be conserved through sustainable agriculture and encouraging plant-based diets. Water resources shall be protected from pollution. Our children should be educated about the essential nature of water for maintaining life. [I would] recommend a series of declarative sentences which can serve as the basis for a course of action. We shall call these ten principles "Water Marks."
1. All water shall be considered to be forever in the public domain.
2. It shall be the duty of each nation to provide accessible, affordable drinking water.
3. There shall be public ownership of drinking water.
4. Wealthy nations shall provide poor nations with the means to obtain water for survival.
5. Water shall be protected from commodification and exempted from all trade agreements.
6. Water privatization shall not be a condition of debt restructuring, loan renewal, or loan forgiveness.
7. Governments shall use their powers to prevent private aggregation of water rights.
8. Water shall be conserved through sustainable agriculture and encouraging plant-based diets.
9. Water resources shall be protected from pollution.
10. Our children shall be educated about the essential nature of water for maintaining life.""
I think this is where he loses me (and all the cattle ranchers big & small, the restaurant owners, the butcher shops, the cattle feed people, etc). I'm a big fan of water conservation. It should be a no-brainer. But this is a bit off the deep end, and I CERTAINLY don't want my water controlled to that extent by the Federal Government. The Feds are the same people who have compromised our personal information a total of 4 times in 5 years... I don't want them to have this much control over what I MUST ingest to stay alive. Remember when Bush decided that a little more Arsenic in our water was an OK thing? Do you want the Federal Government to tell you that you will now be a vegetarian? No, I want off that ride. I'm pretty earthy-crunchy, and I'm a fan of change, but that's taking it too far. It will never work, and I don't want it to.
So he GETS it... he just wont SAY it...
BUT... similar to (or perhaps better than) my quest for an arms-style green energy race (whole new meaning to "cold war"), Kucinich has proposed a "Works Green Administration (WGA)". The WGA, a new version of the WPA (Works Progress Administration from the New Deal Era), would be coupled with NASA & the EPA to restore our infrastructure & provided sustainable energy at the same time. I can only imagine that this would mean a more European-style highway system, covered in solar panels (hey- it's better than billboards - but with today's technology you could actually have both at the same time & place).
"The United States under a Kucinich presidency would reverse the unsustainable actions in the following areas:
1) Energy consumption
2) Military spending
3) Economic and tax policy
4) Environmental policy
5) Land and water use"
He goes on to say some interesting things about water (a subject near & dear to my heart):
""All water shall be considered to be forever in the public domain. It shall be the duty of each nation to provide accessible, affordable drinking water to its peoples. There shall be public ownership of drinking water systems, subject to municipal control Wealthy nations shall provide poor nations with the means to obtain water for survival. Water shall be protected from commodification and exempted from all trade agreements. Water privatization shall not be a condition of debt restructuring, loan renewal or loan forgiveness. Governments shall use their powers to prevent private aggregation of water rights. Water shall be conserved through sustainable agriculture and encouraging plant-based diets. Water resources shall be protected from pollution. Our children should be educated about the essential nature of water for maintaining life. [I would] recommend a series of declarative sentences which can serve as the basis for a course of action. We shall call these ten principles "Water Marks."
1. All water shall be considered to be forever in the public domain.
2. It shall be the duty of each nation to provide accessible, affordable drinking water.
3. There shall be public ownership of drinking water.
4. Wealthy nations shall provide poor nations with the means to obtain water for survival.
5. Water shall be protected from commodification and exempted from all trade agreements.
6. Water privatization shall not be a condition of debt restructuring, loan renewal, or loan forgiveness.
7. Governments shall use their powers to prevent private aggregation of water rights.
8. Water shall be conserved through sustainable agriculture and encouraging plant-based diets.
9. Water resources shall be protected from pollution.
10. Our children shall be educated about the essential nature of water for maintaining life.""
I think this is where he loses me (and all the cattle ranchers big & small, the restaurant owners, the butcher shops, the cattle feed people, etc). I'm a big fan of water conservation. It should be a no-brainer. But this is a bit off the deep end, and I CERTAINLY don't want my water controlled to that extent by the Federal Government. The Feds are the same people who have compromised our personal information a total of 4 times in 5 years... I don't want them to have this much control over what I MUST ingest to stay alive. Remember when Bush decided that a little more Arsenic in our water was an OK thing? Do you want the Federal Government to tell you that you will now be a vegetarian? No, I want off that ride. I'm pretty earthy-crunchy, and I'm a fan of change, but that's taking it too far. It will never work, and I don't want it to.
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