Deb Callahan, League of Conservation Voters

Deb Callahan is president of the League of Conservation Voters, based in Washington, D.C.

Today, I had the great fortune of once again traveling with two women from Texas who have become activists in the fight against the polluting policies of Texas Gov. George W. Bush. We've affectionately named it the "Toxic Texas Tour." Our mission is to share their stories with reporters and the public -- highlighting Bush's record of working against the environment in Texas and consistently siding with polluters and against people.

Tamara Maschino, LaNell Anderson, and I kicked off this effort last week in Missouri -- traveling from a news conference in Kansas City, through Columbia and Jefferson City, to end up at a news conference in St. Louis, home of the 3rd presidential debate. On this latest leg of our journey, we are joined by Rick Abraham, Texas public interest advocate and author of The Dirty Truth: The Oil and Chemical Dependency of George W. Bush.

Today started off with a Seattle press conference. We had great radio coverage -- LaNell was up bright and early to do a radio interview -- and fruitful conversations with many reporters. We then headed south to Tacoma and Olympia, talking about "Toxic Texas" along the way. Former Sen. Bill Bradley is also in Seattle stumping in support of Al Gore.

One thing is for certain -- on environmental issues, the differences between Gore and Bush are stark and real with a potentially enormous impact for our future. Interestingly, polling we released last week shows that clean air and clean water issues are very important to a segment of independent and undecided voters -- the same group that will ultimately determine the outcome of the photo-finish race. Unfortunately, 37 percent of voters don't know the differences between Bush and Gore on these important issues. That's where LCV comes in and that's why the "Toxic Texas Tour" is so important.

In another turn of events, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change today released findings from the first full-scale scientific climate change review since 1995. The report shows that there is stronger evidence of a direct correlation between human-made pollution and climate change. It also found that the earth is warming at a more significant rate than we previously thought.

Unfortunately, this is yet another area in which a George W. Bush administration would be counter to progress. If Texas were an independent nation, it would be the 7th largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Yet, while Bush has finally come to recognize that global warming exists, he has refused to outline a plan to address the problem until we have more scientific data. These stall tactics are unacceptable and irresponsible. Today, I spent a significant time talking with reporters on this issue. LCV also put out a press release calling on Bush to propose real solutions to global warming, in light of the IPCC report.

Well, I better get to bed. I've been up since 5:00 a.m. and I need to get some sleep so I can be ready for the rest of our "Toxic Texas Tour" tomorrow. There's a rumor that vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman will be in Portland tomorrow, which is exciting but doesn't bode well in terms of media turnout for our press conference in the city.

Until tomorrow.

D.