Tom's Turn: Notes from our Senior Editor

Warming to Politics

February 23, 2007

Finally and at last, the environment -- specifically global warming -- seems certain to be front and center in a presidential election. About time.

I've been in this game since 1968, when I went to work for Dave Brower at the Sierra Club. A year later he was forced to walk the plank (his characterization) and I was sacked. Dave then founded Friends of the Earth, where we both worked for the next 17 years.

Part of FOE at the beginning was the League of Conservation Voters, the brainchild of Marion Edey, who would later serve on Jimmy Carter's Council on Environmental Quality. LCV was split off from FOE within a year because of the IRS's rules. It has grown and expanded into a major force.

The idea of the league was to inject environmental concerns into electoral politics. It has been a long haul. The environment is sometimes a major issue in congressional races, also more local ones, but it has never been a major issue in a presidential race, even in 2004 when the differences between the candidates were so stark. Jimmy Carter spoke about the environment quite a bit in 1976 -- and look what happened in 1980. Al Gore, with an exceptional record in the Senate, scarcely mentioned the environment in 2000. Political savants seem to think the public doesn't care, or would be hostile to what a candidate might say.

Well, 2008 looks to be the breakthrough year, owing in no small measure to Gore's recent movie and the torrent of horrible science news about global warming that has snuck up on us because no one was paying attention to the people who started warning about the problem 50 years ago or more.

I just took a stroll through the websites of the 16 candidates or likely candidates (this is going to be one long and expensive campaign), and of the ones who blurbify about issues, climate change is right there. At least in most cases. A few of the candidates restrict their suggestions to energy and the need to wean ourselves off foreign oil by drilling more at home (not helpful on climate), and several speak fondly about nuclear power, which seems to be coming back as a major issue.

Nuclear has the advantage of emitting no greenhouse gases, but it has a series of problems all its own. Maybe we'll talk about those next month. Meanwhile, keep an ear peeled for politicians talking about hot air. Should be interesting.

Thanks, by the way, for all the good wishes about my haunch. It's coming along very well.

Tom Turner, Senior Editor
yourturn@earthjustice.org