Alaska is an oil state. Oil companies provide most of the jobs and oil revenues make up most of the budget for the State. So, it’s important that people understand, when Governor Palin says she’s “taken on big oil”, it’s probably more accurate to say that she forced oil companies to pay more taxes. She basically helped push though legislation that increased taxes on oil revenues. I suppose that counts, but it’s disingenuous to give the impression that the Governor took a bold stand. This was essentially a mandate given to her by the people of Alaska, who were tired of a free-all-oil policy and Governor Palin kept confidence with the people by fulfilling that mandate. Indeed, she is to be commended for that.
But given how popular oil companies are right about now, you’d think she would want to trumpet her David vs. Goliath-type success. Unfortunately that wouldn’t mesh well with the ticket’s position of keeping taxes low across the board. “The McCain campaign Web site biography for Palin doesn’t mention the oil tax legislation. It does mention that she suspended the state’s fuel tax, which saved taxpayers about $40 million.”
Joe Biden has been, by and large, pretty good on environmental issues during his time in the Senate. He’s voted in favor for higher fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, opposed the construction of new coal fire power plants, and supported subsidies for renewable energy technology, but he’s never really led any significant environmental initiatives. Even John McCain has led an environmental initiative, introducing revolutionary environmental legislation that set hard caps for carbon emissions, and yet the best Biden can boast in all the years that he’s been a Senator is his co-sponsorship on good environmental legislation.
“Energy Independence” is a statement often dissipated recently in the Presidential race. Interestingly, both sides seem to claim that they are the champions who can achieve this magnificent feat. The importance of energy independence in this globalized world was struck home by Barack Obama in the third debate at Hofstra University: “If we invest in a serious energy policy, we will save the amount of money we’re borrowing from China to send to Saudi Arabia.” While both campaigns claim to uphold the banner of energy independence, they are each proselytizing very different answers for achieving this goal. …read more of What’s the Price for Nuclear Technology? here
A closer look at the candidate’s plans to grow the US green economy reveals some stark differences, but also, an amazing amount of similarities (especially when you consider the historical positions of the two political parties on energy and the environment). Both candidates would build more nuclear power plants, drill offshore, and invest in renewable energy and energy efficient technology, Obama’s plan is more aggressive in cutting green house gas emissions and funding renewable technology development, but will it create enough jobs? McCain’s plan is far more aggressive in pursuing mass electricity generation and energy production, but does it create enough green jobs? Furthermore, will either candidate’s plan have a “jump-starting” effect on the US economy, and if so, what will that look like?
To start with, both candidates will force fossil fuel-based energy producers to reduce their workforce because the cap-and-trade system which both candidates favor will cut into profits and when profits go down, people get laid off. Because Obama favors an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to McCain’s 66% reduction, more jobs in that part of the energy sector would be lost under the Obama plan. Furthermore, McCain’s large-scale nuclear energy initiative will create more jobs in the short-term because his plan calls for more nuclear energy production than Obama’s, and unlike jobs created from renewable research and development, nuclear energy infrastructure can be built right now and come on-line quicker.
At the heart of Obama’s new green economy is the cap and trade system which essentially is a tax on polluters for green house gas emissions. The thought is that the revenue generated from cap and trade will generate between $30 and $50 billion a year, and would go to funding:
1) a Clean Technologies Venture Fund ($150 billion over 10 years) which would fund green technology innovation
2) education and job training in clean technology development and production.
So right off the bat, Senator Obama would channel money that would otherwise stay in polluter’s pockets into a green R&D fund as well as training the workforce to be able to transition into the green jobs which the R&D will create. On the flip side of that coin, the coal industry (responsible for half our nation’s electricity but also a major emitter of green house gases) is going to get hammered. People like to talk about clean coal but the truth is the coal industry won’t be able to afford the cap and trade system or the technology necessary to stay profitable while complying. People in that industry will be laid off, and there will be a void in America’s energy production. So how on earth can this be good for the economy?
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Ted is always looking for ways to minimize his ecological footprint. Professionally, Ted is working to gain the skills necessary to turn his passion for sustainable development into action, as an entrepreneur or financing sustainable businesses.
Ted studied economics and international business at Saint Louis University’s campus in Madrid, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and was honored as the Distinguished Student in International Business for his class. As the founder and president of the SLU Madrid Business Club, Ted focused the club’s activities on sustainability.
While working for commercial real estate multi-national Jones Lang LaSalle’s Madrid office, Ted strove to implement sustainable practices both within the firm and for its clients. He proposed and designed an Environmental Sustainability Action Plan for JLL Spain. Green Building and Environmentally Sustainable Development remain a passion for Ted: he believes that the intersection of sustainable infrastructure and sustainable attitude is where we’ll find a sustainable society.
Ted currently works for a private equity firm in Madrid, learning skills that he hopes to apply to finance Environmentally Sustainable Development in the United States and around the world.
Tracy is the CEO and Founding Partner of Technical Green - a green industry career site focused on clean tech and green research and development.
Tracy's professional experience are in the recruitment advertising and non-profit sectors and she has for many years maintained a sustainable lifestyle.
Marie Oser is a best-selling author, columnist, and host/producer of VEG TV. A vegan lifestyle expert, and environmental advocate with a focus on nutrition and its role in disease prevention, Oser specializes in creating original gourmet recipes with a solid nutritional bottom line.
Many prominent medical and nutrition professionals endorse her work, including Dr. Colin Campbell, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University and principal researcher of the groundbreaking CHINA STUDY, and Neal Barnard, M.D. founder and president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC.
Marie is president of VEGTV, Inc., a video production company producing content for TV and new media. VEGTV streams hundreds of lifestyle videos to more than 1,000 sites globally. In her role as Director of Product Development at Smart Planet Kitchen, she has created, Marie Oser’s Lean & Green, a new line of vegan and Fair Trade Certified products. Marie has appeared on CNN, ABC, National Public Radio, QVC, WUSA, WNBC, KCAL, KOVR, Home & Garden Television (HGTV), FINE LIVING, TECH TV, and Discovery Channel.
Vegetarian since 1971; vegan since 1990, Marie left a career in TV advertising to pursue her interest in food, health, and nutrition. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, she studied psychology at St. Joseph’s University. Marie is a gourmet cook and organic gardener living in California, writing her 5th book and hiking every day with Travis, her Yellow Lab companion.
Cherl Petso is the Associate Editor at Disaboom.com, an online magazine for people with disabilities. Her writing expertise includes articles about the environment and sustainable living, and vegan/vegetarian issues. A vegetarian for 16 years and a recent vegan, Cherl is passionate about animal rights and issues. She enjoys writing about simple ways to lessen the impact on the Earth.
Cherl recently moved to Denver, Colorado from Bellingham, Washington. She enjoys hiking and hanging out with her puppy.
Nathanial Manning works for the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) as a Regional Analyst for Asia. He focuses on two programs for CCI, the Green Building Retrofit program and the Waste Management program. Nathaniel recently graduated from Brown University as an Environmental Studies Masters student, specializing in sustainable design and international carbon policy. Nat also completed a Bachelor of Arts in World Religions at Brown, focusing on the philosophy of ethics and the intersection between religion and politics. He is completing his Masters thesis on clean-technology-transfer within the UN's carbon credit mechanism (the CDM), which allows developed countries to invest in carbon mitigating technologies in developing countries with the purpose of promoting sustainable development.
Nathaniel has a long history of involvement in environmental development work ranging from waste-to-energy entrepreneurial ventures to designing sustainable homes for the Guatemalan chapter of Habitat for Humanity, to working for a tidal energy engineering firm in Singapore. Nat's passion is in how intelligent innovative solutions and technologies can be applied to create a sustainable and free world. When Nat thinks of the word "green" he does not just think of the word "environment" but how we as humans can design systems and solutions that create win-win situations.
Robert Cowin is a political consultant for environmental NGOs. His nomadic childhood reveals a world-class carpetbagger, but he masks as a Texan-New Yorker hybrid. Formerly with the National Environmental Trust (now the Pew Environment Group) in DC, he’s spent time on Capital Hill advocating for Kyoto ratification, clean air, renewable energy technology, and green energy policy.
Robert has also worked on marine conservation issues, directing the Conserve Our Ocean Legacy coalition in the Mid-Atlantic States which successfully worked to help strengthen and reauthorize the Magnuson Steven’s Act. He now happily lives in Southern California, flying back east often as he finishes his Masters in International Relations at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.
Dayanti Karunaratne is a freelance journalist based in Canada's capital city, Ottawa.
Since graduating from Carleton University's journalism program in 2006, Karunaratne has worked on the news desk at the Port Hope Evening Guide, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Molokai Times. Karunaratne's writing appears in the Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Magazine, the Globe and Mail, and other lifestyle publications.
Heather O'Neill is the founder of Eco to the People, a green living blog.
Before founding Eco to the People, Heather O’Neill wore so many hats in the field of journalism that even the Queen Mother would envy her collection. She has worked as the managing editor of a beauty trade magazine; as a copy editor for an online tech magazine; as the associate editor of a city magazine and as a newspaper reporter and columnist, and as the senior editor at the popular online newsletter ecofabulous.
Her work has appeared in many publications, including Parenting, Alternative Medicine, Natural Solutions, Marin Magazine, Greenwich Magazine and HOME.
Heather earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from California College of the Arts. She lives and works in San Francisco.
Alaska is an oil state. Oil companies provide most of the jobs and oil revenues make up most of the budget for the State. So, it’s important that people understand, when Governor Palin says she’s “taken on big oil”, it’s probably more accurate to say that she forced oil companies to pay more taxes. She basically helped push though legislation that increased taxes on oil revenues. I suppose that counts, but it’s disingenuous to give the impression that the Governor took a bold stand. This was essentially a mandate given to her by the people of Alaska, who were tired of a free-all-oil policy and Governor Palin kept confidence with the people by fulfilling that mandate. Indeed, she is to be commended for that.
Joe Biden has been, by and large, pretty good on environmental issues during his time in the Senate. He’s voted in favor for higher fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, opposed the construction of new coal fire power plants, and supported subsidies for renewable energy technology, but he’s never really led any significant environmental initiatives. Even John McCain has led an environmental initiative, introducing revolutionary environmental legislation that set hard caps for carbon emissions, and yet the best Biden can boast in all the years that he’s been a Senator is his co-sponsorship on good environmental legislation.
At the heart of Obama’s new green economy is the cap and trade system which essentially is a tax on polluters for green house gas emissions. The thought is that the revenue generated from cap and trade will generate between $30 and $50 billion a year, and would go to funding:
