Do Voters Care About the Environment? - Panel Discussion

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/08/25/The_New_Republic_The_Politics_of_Green

Third Way Vice President Mark Bennett and Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope debate Americans' willingness to make economic sacrifices for climate change. This excerpt is taken from a panel discussion entitled "The Politics of Green," recorded at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

FORA.tv coverage of the DNC: http://for​a.tv/topic​/democrati​c_conventi​on

The New Republic on FORA.tv: http://fora.tv/partner/new_republic

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In conjunction with the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, The New Republic hosted a panel discussion on environmental issues featuring leaders in Congress and from NGOs who talked about the energy and environmental policy of the next administration.

Before co-founding Third Way, Mr. Bennett was Director of Communications for the Clark for President Campaign, where he served as the campaign's principal spokesman and managed the press, speechwriting, research and rapid response operations. Mr. Bennett was Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Americans for Gun Safety for three years. He went to AGS after serving for the entire second Clinton term in the White House, where he was Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs, the leading White House liaison to the nation's governors. Before that, Mr. Bennett was Trip Director and Assistant Counsel to the Vice President, where he traveled with Vice President Gore and managed the traveling staff. Mr. Bennett has served in various capacities on the Dukakis, Clinton '92 and Clinton '96 campaigns.

Carl Pope is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club, an American environmental organization founded by conservationist pioneer John Muir in 1892. Pope was appointed to his position as Executive Director in 1992, the club's centennial.

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[starwarsgeek8]

2nded!

[merdufer]

People are lazy and they won't go out of their comfort to do things just because of what might happen 30 years from now. That's just human nature.

Either wait for a technological revolution that transforms what's good for the environment also immediately beneficial to people, or establish some sort of green semi-dictatorship.

The latter will eventually deteriorate even if it worked on short-term, not to mention that it's near impossible in a democratic country unless everybody's ass is on fire.

[megamarsvin]

Voters care about the environment the same way they care about anything: it has to be fixed as long as other people pay the price/do the work.

[Plutonwolf]

Then there is the scarey fact that we will be experimenting with our only living space. We were so damn short sighted in our treatment of the space program that it makes me want to howl. We need to get our eggs spread into as many baskets as we possibly can.

I see us having maybe 4 decades before the shit hits the fan. Barring any unexpected involvement from volcanic events, we are rapidly deforesting the planet, creating dead zones in the oceans and paving the land black. It will get hot.

[Plutonwolf]

I wish you and your generation as much good fortune as I can muster. My concern is that there are so many vested short sighted interests arrayed against you. The complexities of a self supporting viable global ecosystem stagger the imagination and I have one hell of one, no false pride involved. What I see as desperately needed is a comprehensive study of the complete system, a warehousing of as much diverse genetic information on as many species as possible, (one never knows ) *cont*

[grawk1]

exactly my point. the entire thing has gone beyond the point of no return, if left to its own devices the planet will have to undergo a period of utter chaos and restructuring (unless it goes the whole hog and has runaway global warming like our sulpherous, 460C sister, Venus) because it all works on inefficient, unguided systems of natural selection. We, however, can give a much needed injection of "Intelligent Design" (to us a phrase i dispise), prevent this and make earth better than ever.

[Plutonwolf]

Familiar with hunting at all? When one species, rabbits for instance, over populate, inevitably a disease sweeps through bringing their numbers back into equilibrium. Bird flu to thim the 2 legged bunnies?

As for re-establishing balance, it is, I think, too late. The tundra is thawing as we speak. This is liberating massive amounts of methane. As that happens, global sea temps are rising, witness the destruction of the coral reefs. When rising sea temps liberate the methane hydrates......

[grawk1]

If we were to disappear, the planet would go through utter turmoil trying to re-establish equilibrium. This chaos will be far worse if we do stay here but try to return things to how they used to be (it may even drive us to extinction if we do not settle on new planets) because essential components have been lost. Our only hope of salvaging this planet (while keeping it liveable for us too) is establishing a new dynamic equilibrium which suits us. what we don't know now, we will learn in doing.

[grawk1]

While this is certainly true, we've already opened Pandora's Box. There is no way that things would return to how they were 15,000 years ago were we to disappear. The problem is that global warming has already started (and will only accellerate, even without any more emmissions), the forests have already been logged , hundreds of speices which are essential to the ecosystem are already extinct or endangered and the crops, livestock, pets and vermin have already speciated off as dependants.

[Plutonwolf]

I can appreciate your zeal, this is what we so need! But the problem lies in our lack of understanding and lack of complete knowledge of all the components the make up the biosphere. Does anyone truly know what is the components that absolutely can never be touched? Bees are a prime example of one single component having a massive cascade effect. There are surely many more. I would say that before we attempt global bioegineering, we first gain full knowledge of what we are playing with.