this issue is so huge and so important in this election and the last one, that it has been virtually crushed off the radar is a testament to how successful the bush campaign has been at defining the issues and framing the entire election.
bush's environmental record is abhorent. while the hypothesis in RFKJRs book goes too far in my eyes, there is no debate that bush has chosen faith over fact and turned his back on science on every issue. he's proud of it, brags to his base about it, and they cheer him while the reasoning world looks on aghast.
if you find yourself saying that environmentalists hurt economic growth, put the kool-aid down and step away from the PACs and non-profits on both sides. the overwhelming voice of academia on this issue is impossible to ignore, but hard to simplify into a campaign trail soundbite.
our economic future absolutely depends upon smart management of our natural resources, conservation of our environment, and development of new technologies and industries. Al Gore spoke to this effect between sighs in the 2000 debates, but big business and old industry won out when the votes were miscounted.
at the present rate of climate change, we are 50 years away from turning colorado's mountain pastures into arizona's deserts. when that happens, the breadbasket of middle america's fertile farm land will be in canada's tundra and we will lose our greatest business.
19 states have levels of mercury that endanger unborn children when pregnant women eat fish or drink the water. yet the same people that vote to protect the unborn from abortion, vote for policies that allow the coal industry to cause birth defects and relax the legal process that might hold them accountable later.
the american auto industry said that cars couldn't be made profitably that got 50 miles to the gallon and produced acceptible emission levels. then toyota proved them wrong, and they lobbied to impede imports. we call ourselves free market patriots and ignore that if every car in america got 40 miles to the gallon, we would have no dependency on foreign oil and could rewrite our policies in the middle east free of our petrochemical addiction.
kerry's environmental voting record is one of the best in congress (
www.vote-smart.org). he has been for 20 years, what is the word... "a leader?"
the choice is clear, but it is not simple.