TheGreenFront presents: This Day in Climate History (hat tip to Brad Johnson) October 7, 1984: At the conclusion of his first debate with President Ronald Reagan, Democratic challenger and former Vice President Walter Mondale declares: I believe that we will be better off if we protect this environment. And contrary to what the President says, I think their record on the environment is inexcusable and often shameful. These laws are not being enforced, have not been enforced, and the public health and the air and the water are paying the price. Thats not fair for our future. I think our future requires a President to lead us in an all-out search to advance our education, our learning, and our science and training, because this world is more complex and were being pressed harder all the time. (97:43-98:23) youtube/watch?v=OGvBFQQPRXs October 7, 2003: Arnold Schwarzenegger succeeds Gray Davis as the governor of California after a highly controversial recall election. Schwarzenegger--who had been demonized by talk radio host Rush Limbaugh in the weeks prior to the election as not being a real conservative--would become one of the very few prominent elected Republican officials urging action on climate change. c-span.org/video/?178547-2/california-recall-acceptance-consession October 7, 2008: In the second Presidential debate between Illinois Senator Barack Obama and Arizona Senator John McCain, McCain states that he has disagreed with the Bush administrations denial of climate science, and notes that in 2003, he and Senator Joe Lieberman introduced a bipartisan bill to reduce carbon emissions, which failed in the Senate. He contends that nuclear power is the key to solving the climate crisis, and mocks Obama for his alleged skepticism of nuclear power. McCain notes that clean energy can create millions of jobs. In response, Obama also notes that clean energy can trigger tremendous job growth, and says that he does in fact favor nuclear power as part of the solution to the climate crisis. Obama also notes that McCain voted several times against legislation that would have promoted the development of alternative fuels, and takes a direct shot at the GOPs drill, baby, drill mantra, noting that it is not possible to drill our way out of the energy problem, especially if we are serious about tackling the climate crisis. In his answer to a follow-up energy question from moderator Tom Brokaw, McCain notes that he voted against the highly controversial Energy Policy Act of 2005, whereas Obama--or, as McCain calls him, that one--voted for it. McCain also defends the drill, baby, drill idea. (41:21-48:19) youtu.be/VkBqLBsu-o4 October 7, 2009: In an hour-long “Special Comment” on health care reform, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann briefly touches upon the power of terminology: “You can blame the one doing the misunderstanding all you want, but the essence of communication is reducing the chance of misunderstanding, and the term ‘the public option’ has been as useless and as full of holes and as self-defeating as has been the term ‘global warming.’ “It is political speak. It is legalese. It is designed not for the recipient but for the speaker. It is the ego of the informed strutting down the street and saying, Look at me, I talk smart.’ “Just as ‘global warming’ is really ‘bad climate change,’ the ‘public option’ is, in broad essence, ‘Medicare for everybody.’ Frame it that way, sell it that way, and suddenly, it doesnt sound like a threat turning the seemingly solid insurance which people have now, for better or worse, into something optional and turning anything private into everything public.” (6:59--7:48) youtube/watch?v=F7SiOQbe30I
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 09:04:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015