Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards announced this week that his campaign is going carbon neutral.
"Global warming is an emergency and we can't wait until the next president is elected to take action," said Edwards in a press release. "Each of us can take responsibility in small ways to make a big difference. I encourage all Americans to conserve energy in their own homes and workplaces and help fight global warming."
According to ABC News' Political Rader:
Edwards has been approached about running a carbon neutral campaign before, but had dismissed it as infeasible. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" in December of 2006, Edwards responded to Vice President Al Gore's commitment to carbon neutrality by saying, "He's better than me. It's hard to see how you could do it in a presidential campaign."
Apparently, Edwards has since found a way.
Since finding a way, Edwards will be offsetting the carbon spewed by his private jet as well as:
- Organizing a "One Corps National Day of Energy Action" in January to get supporters involved in the fight against global warming by working on community service activities including weatherizing homes and distributing energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
- Using timers and motion detectors to control lights and shut down office equipment when not in use and turning off computers, televisions, and lights when not in use.
- Online monitoring and management of heating and air conditioning to conserve energy.
- Buying 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper and other recycled paper products.
- Recycling paper, plastic, glass, cardboard, and other products.
- Encouraging staff to adopt energy efficient practices in their office and homes. About a quarter of John Edwards for President headquarters employees walk to work.
Tom Vilsack was the first of the Democrats making a bid for the White House in '08 to go carbon neutral, but then he bailed. So Edwards is the first-still-a-candidate-and-will-probably-be-for-awhile candidate to declare carbon neutrality.
Let the nitpicking and misrepresentation begin!
Comments
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Shawn Posted 12:59 am
15 Mar 2007
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caniscandida Posted 1:48 am
15 Mar 2007
Edwards has already come out with a serious, detailed plan for health care reform which has won him a lot of praise. I am not at all surprised that in the time following the interview with George Stephanopoulos (and note the humbly appreciative praise of Al Gore, also a good move for a Democratic candidate right now), Edwards has done a fair amount of thinking about global warming, and about the responsibility of those in positions of leadership to lead the mitigation effort.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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Delay And Deny Posted 4:39 am
15 Mar 2007
A new catalyst that can split carbon dioxide gas could allow us to use carbon from the atmosphere as a fuel source in a similar way to plants.
"Breaking open the very stable bonds in CO2 is one of the biggest challenges in synthetic chemistry," says Frederic Goettmann, a chemist at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany. "But plants have been doing it for millions of years."
Catalyst could help turn CO2 into fuel
The Texeme Construct offers international text memetics construction and textcasting services. http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com
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Steve Erickson Posted 5:16 am
15 Mar 2007
By the way, are you able to charge more for your services by calling them "memetics" than the more common terms "public relations" or "propaganda?"
Steve E.
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Delay And Deny Posted 5:28 am
15 Mar 2007
(1) As usual (2) Tex (3) your agenda
(1) As usual what?
(2) Not my name...stop insulting me directly because of my ideas
(3) My "agenda" is to decrease ad hominem attacks and increase intelligence in the global warming debate.
Most basically, its a long long way from here
As for many alternative fuel technologies...but I think what's fascinating about it is just the change in perspective...seeing a 'waste' as fuel...that's the very basis of sustainability.
are you able to charge more for your services by calling them "memetics" than the more common terms "public relations" or "propaganda?"
Memetics is about, in part, changing the perspective of people...trying to get them to see things 180 degrees around. That a waste can be a fuel, for example.
The Texeme Construct offers international text memetics construction and textcasting services. http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com
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ltlf653 Posted 12:40 am
16 Mar 2007
Contrast that to a provider like TerraPass who uses renewable energy sources that would exist anyways, without offset revenue (read: your dollars aren't doing anything special!). Check it out in this BizWeek article debunking TerraPass in particular. And again, good for Edwards for being a conscientious purchaser!
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