Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
I have to confess, I got nothin' this week.
Oh sure, there were articles this week in the New York Times on how red tide is causing major problems for California sea lions, and plenty of gloom and doom in other areas. Although the global warming meeting in Bali, while not likely to lead to major breakthroughs, is a potential bright spot just because it's happening.
But really, I'm drawing a blank, and so is everyone else on our team, which is why you didn't see a post yesterday. So instead, I'll just pose a question:
Does the presidential race matter to the oceans? To the environment, in general?
The oceans obviously aren't a campaign issue, but does anybody see anything that hightens your confidence in any of the candidates, with regard to their position on environmental issues? I mean come one, where's The Climate Crisis in their talking point script? Why isn't anyone asking?
What gives? Would love to hear some theories. Fire away.
- Log in to post comments
There is piles of coverage of the environment as an electoral issue in the US presidential race over at Gristmill - probably the best blog on American environmental politics.
I went over to Gristmill and looked for evidence of the environment as an electoral issue, and I guess I beg to differ. There are certainly a lot of blog posts saying what the candidates should or shouldn't do, as well as descriptions of the various candidates' positions on the environment, but that's not really what I'm talking about.
Nobody is using global warming as a club. It's one thing to have a position on an issue, and another thing to actually take it up and hit your opponents with it. The current administration has been almost criminally negligent on the climate crisis, the public has passed the tipping point in terms of consciousness, and yet the candidates barely talk about it.
Maybe they have internal polling saying it doesn't matter, but it seems like a candidate who really cares could exploit the disconnect between public consciousness and government inaction. So far, I don't see anybody actively making it an electoral issue.
Jack, why so negative? I'll tell you why -- because you're right. The environmental movement is good at whining, but not so good at real world politics (i.e. actually inserting themselves into the political process), as you guys know well. Grist did sponsor a presidential climate forum in Los Angeles on Nov. 17 which Clinton, Edwards and Kucinich took part. But that's just a magazine that's trying to do its best. My question is where in the world is the leadership of WWF, C.I., Nature Conservancy -- three organizations who together could probably buy a few small nations.
Why don't the C.E.O.'s of the top ten environmental organizations come together and push the environmental agenda in the sort of high profile way that ends up on the evening news? Why didn't they do that after hurricane Katrina, using it as an example of what happens when you don't manage your wetlands? Why don't they show any sort of high profile leadership? They simply aren't a presence in the mainstream media.
The environmental nightmares brewing in China and India are now cropping up in the news every day (ABC News did yet another segment last night on pollution in China). And everyone knows those aren't "their" nightmares -- they are the entire planet's nightmares. There is a dire need for true political environmental leadership, not just in the U.S. but globally. Yet it seems to be coming down to individuals like Al Gore and magazines like Grist.
Somethings not right with that picture.
Right now, the candidates are appealing to voters likely to vote in important primaries. Once candidates are selected, the focus will shift to swing voters in swing states.
The lack of a focus on climate change - though it has certainly been discussed - probably reflects strategic positioning. You don't spend as much as it costs to run for President and then focus on anything other than the issues where you have the strongest chance of influencing undecided voters.