To All Candidates for President Regarding The Climate Crisis

[RestoreGore]

And yes, this is going out to ALL of them regardless of party and regardless of what I may think of them or the political process otherwise. Perhaps if more who state they care about this planet do the same they will then be forced to discuss it.


To all candidates for the office of president regardless of party;

For your own reasons you have taken it upon yourselves to enter this horserace and a system that seems to not reward true dedication to principle but rather exemplifies political expedience. And in your own hearts you may believe that what you are now doing is right, but there is one thing missing from the equation. Unless you enter into this with a firm commitment to mitigating the climate crisis your words are empty to me. If you cannot promise in your campaigns to devote your platform not only to ending this war, providing affordable healthcare for Americans, and seeking to restore the constitution we lost, but also to fervently and with moral purpose seek to once and for all to begin to seriously address global climate change that is already changing the face of our planet, no other issue you touch upon will have true meaning to me.

I am not going to be nice and sit and write a letter of sweetness and light and beg you to discuss it. I as an American citizen but more importantly a citizen of this world who is informed is telling you that you must discuss this and now. You must make people see the urgency of what we, our children, and their children will face if we continue on the road we are on.

For far too long the political beltway in Washington DC has concerned itself more with appearances than actions that are morally right. It cares more about what is popular as opposed to what is right. Well, what is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular as has been the case with the environment on Capitol Hill. And that must change this year.

We as Americans are facing a true turning point not only in our history as a country, but as human beings we are facing a turning point in the history of our world that will forever define who we are as a species. As Al Gore, the man who so surpasses all of the rhetoric with his grace, vision, and heartfelt dedication to the environment has rightfully stated, our children will come to us not too long from now and ask us one of two questions. Either it will be, what were you all thinking? How could you know the extent of the damage we were doing to this planet and not do anything about it? Or, they will ask: How did you find the courage and moral fortitude in the face of such daunting odds to face this with such courage and mitigate it in time? I, like Mr. Gore want them to ask the second question.

And I now know that as of yet, the urgency this crisis has as far as the American people are concerned is not yet at the level it should be, even with all of Mr. Gore’s and others’ relentless work. So then the question needs to be raised: Why are you not helping him? Why in your speeches, debates, and platforms have you not more aggressively addressed the one crisis that is now in the consciousness of the entire world?

We cannot wait until 2009, and then to see a bill juggled back and forth until it is eviscerated to the point that the special interests once again win over our planet. We need aggressive action across the board, across party lines, and across the partisan political divisions that have now turned good work on solutions to this crisis into a slower process that is now detrimental to the future of our species now.

The Arctic ice is not waiting for an election. It is not politically partisan. It has no monetary or career stake in making decisions. But it is affecting the world we live in, the world we are changing the face of by our actions, and it is now up to all of us and that includes all of you to make this crisis primary in your campaigns. Current polls suggest that only 39% of Americans believe this is serious, and if true that is dangerous. That is then because they are either distracted, ignorant about it, or don’t believe anything of substance can or will be done on a political level because of the stagnation regarding this crisis for the past thirty years… Thirty years that Al Gore was there warning us all about it. Perhaps also they are waiting for the candidates across the board to throw political expedience and caution to the wind and simply say what must be said: that unless we address this now, we put the future sustainability of our species at grave risk. That is not alarmism that is a fact.

So I hope that if you read through all of this you will realize that there are those of us out here who while we may not be politically minded anymore, are aware of all of the facets of this crisis and that individual actions, corporate actions, and a moral awakening on the part of the global community is three quarters of this solution pie. It is you, you there who sit in the halls of government where the everyday troubles of Americans seem to be all but forgotten as you barter with our lives on a daily basis that is the fourth quarter.

And you still have some time to make this a primary issue as Mr. Gore stated as well during an interview at the UN, and if you have been paying attention to his efforts that have surpassed in one year anything done in the political sphere in the last thirty, you will take it upon yourselves to heed his words of wisdom and truth and do the moral thing, because this is a moral issue.

I firmly believe that political progress is also not accomplished unless the people demand it. So this is my demand. Our children deserve a sustainable planet and I demand you talk about it. Al Gore is committed to seeing that happen. I am committed to seeing that happen. Millions of others around the globe are committed to seeing that happen. Are you? Let’s see how committed you are in the months ahead, because many will be watching as the clock on that ten year window for our planet continues to tick.

Thank you.

[aquart]

1. No candidate is going to campaign on "The ice is melting, run for the hills!"

The real awareness of climate change here and elsewhere is still in the area of fluorescent light bulbs and no plastic bags can fix it. It can't be fixed. Not now.

So all the issues everyone is running on really don't apply. Because everything will change when the center of the country can't produce wheat, but is still asked to absorb the fleeing population from our drowning coasts. You wanna put that in a campaign ad? Good luck.

[RestoreGore]

2. Believe me, I have no illusions

That's why we need Al Gore and those truly committed to this out here, as in there it more than likely won't happen in enough time. But I have to at least try because it's that important.

Oh, and on edit: the title of your response was not the tone of my letter at all.