Swans Commentary » swans.com July 14, 2008  

 

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by Jan Baughman

 

A Cartoon

 

 

(Swans - July 14, 2008) 

 

California's burning -- literally, from a rare dry lightening storm, and figuratively, from drought with triple-digit temperatures not seen in 98 years; the worst flooding in 15 years has displaced tens of thousands in the Midwest and flooded about two million acres of corn and soybean fields; there has been a record number of tornadoes so far in 2008. What will hurricane season bring? Meantime, the U.S. has yet to seriously acknowledge climate change nor commit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase fuel efficiency significantly in vehicles, or promote environment-friendly alternative sources of energy, and the agency tasked with protecting the environment has been taken hostage and censored by the energy-company-affiliated White House and the Office of Management and Budget. A former EPA senior official, Jason Burnett, just reported that Cheney's office asked him to alter his Senate testimony on the impact of global warming, and that the White House blocked the EPA's issuance of their conclusion that climate change is a threat to the public. Just as the classification of polar bears as threatened should have resulted in the protection of their environment (a requirement that was essentially dismissed by the administration), classifying humans as threatened would force the same protections for us. Yet protection is a long way off, as the battle between the Bush administration, the EPA, and the courts continues.

Will the new White House occupant release the EPA scientists that have been held hostage in a corporate climate of global warming denial, addiction to oil, and the preservation of the American way of life at any cost? Which candidate brings an environment-friendly platform and rational energy policy? John McCain proposes building 45 nuclear reactors and reinstating offshore oil drilling. Barack Obama wants to introduce a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions and promote the production of biofuel, despite its inefficiency and heavy toll on the environment and on the price of food. Only one candidate is a genuine champion of the environment: Ralph Nader supports clean and renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind and would tax carbon emissions. Who better to entrust the health of our planet to, than the man who brought us the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Safe Drinking Water Act, just to name a few? Please, support the scientists. Support the polar bears. Support the planet. Support Ralph Nader. He may not be able to win the election, but he can sure have an impact on its agenda by promoting the issues we care most about.

 

 

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Other Cartoons by Jan Baughman

 

Internal Resources

Global Warming Gag Orders - Jan Baughman, July 2, 2007

Ralph Nader: Character and Integrity

Green & Independent Politics

US Elections & Democracy

Patterns which Connect

America the 'beautiful'

 

About the Author

Jan Baughman on Swans (with bio).

 

Legalese

Please, feel free to insert a link to this work on your Web site or to disseminate its URL on your favorite lists, quoting the first paragraph or providing a summary. However, please DO NOT steal, scavenge, or repost this work on the Web or any electronic media. Inlining, mirroring, and framing are expressly prohibited. Pulp re-publishing is welcome -- please contact the publisher. This material is copyrighted, © Jan Baughman 2008. All rights reserved.

 

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