FRESNO, Calif., Sept. 23, 2008
Obama And McCain On Climate Change
CBS Evening News: Breaking Down The Candidates' Stances On Reducing Emissions, Preserving Nature
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Where They Stand: Part Two
Where do the presidential candidates stand on climate change? John Blackstone spoke with Jean Pennycook, a penguin researcher in Fresno, CA.
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Where They Stand
Where do the presidential candidates stand on climate change? John Blackstone spoke with John Fiscalini, a dairy farmer from Modesto, CA.
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Candidates On Climate Change
Where do the presidential candidates stand on climate change? John Blackstone reports both propose measures that sound the same, but there are differences between them.
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Both the candidates stress the importance of fighting climate change - but each of their policy plans could affect people - and even penguins - differently. (AP)
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Climate Change
The fourth installment of the series examines where each candidate stands on carbon emissions and the environment.
The fourth installment of the series examines where each candidate stands on carbon emissions and the environment.
Both Candidates:
- Support joining international efforts to curb greenhouse gases and pressing nations like China and India to do the same.
Obama's Plan:
- Would cut greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 80% by 2050 through a cap and trade program.
- Would charge companies for all emission permits.
McCain's Plan:
- Wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by at least 60% by 2050 through a cap and trade program.
- Would provide emission permits for free and allow companies to sell unused ones.
The Issue
The Adelie penguin colony at Cape Royds, Antarctica, is already feeling the impact of global warming - and that's where CBS News correspondent John Blackstone first met penguin researcher Jean Pennycook earlier this year. She was worried.
"If the ice goes away, these penguins will no longer be able to survive," she said. "So as we see the ice decrease, the penguins will struggle to exist."
When she's not in Antarctica observing the penguins, Pennycook teaches about them in Fresno, Calif.
"So this was more melting than we'd ever seen before - and it was because it was a warmer year," Pennycook said to a class.
She shows her photos of penguins flooded out by fast-melting glaciers. Ice loss in Antarctica has increased by 75 percent in the last dozen years due to global warming.
"How many of you think that to save the penguins, you'd be willing to walk to your friend's house rather than take the car?" she asked her class.
One hundred miles north of Fresno, near Modesto, Calif., John Fiscalini would like to be part of the global-warming solution. But for now his 3,000 cows are part of the problem.
Each cow produces plenty of milk.
"They're basically giving 85 to 100 pounds of milk a day," Fiscalini said.
But cows also make methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The United Nations calculates livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide - even more than cars.
"They have just been escaping up into the environment and contributing to climate change," he said.
So Fiscalini has called in Brian Gannon, who builds methane digesters that capture the gas.
The methane from 300 tons of manure a day will go through a generator making enough electricity to run the whole farm - with power left over to sell to the local utility.
The Candidates
Both presidential candidates are pushing pollution-cutting efforts like these. Just recognizing climate change as an issue is a big change from the past eight years.
Both candidates say they'll join international climate change efforts that the Bush administration has ignored, and will press China and India to cut greenhouse gases.
Back home, both would start with modest greenhouse gas reductions - then increase cutbacks for 40 years into the future.
McCain said while in Santa Barbara: "Until we have achieved at least a reduction of 60 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050."
Obama goes further.
"I've put forward very substantial proposals to get 80 percent reductions in greenhouse gasses by 2050," Obama told CBS News.
Both would reach those goals largely thru a "cap and trade" program that works like this:
"Leadership must begin at home. That's why I've proposed a cap and trade system to limit our carbon emissions and to invest in alternative sources of energy," Obama said in May in Miami.
And McCain, in Santa Barbara, said: "I have proposed a new system of cap-and-trade that over time will change the dynamic of our energy economy."
The candidates sound the same, but there are differences.
McCain would give companies most of the emissions permits for free based on their previous emission levels. Then if they cut back, they can make money selling unused permits.
He said in Portland. "In all its power, the profit motive will suddenly begin to shift and point the other way toward cleaner fuels, wiser ways, and a healthier planet."
Obama would sell all emission permits at auction, so companies would have to pay for every ton of carbon they release. Money raised would be used to develop renewable energy and to subsidize consumers' energy bills.
By one estimate a cap and trade program could raise the average family energy bill more than $700 a year.
In the August, 2007 Democratic primary debate, Obama said: "There are some things that we can do to conserve energy, but all those steps are going to require a little bit of hardship and a little bit of pinching."
The Impact
None of this clean energy comes cheap. Just ask John Fiscalini.
His new generator alone cost $1 million.
"Being the greenest person on the planet and losing money is not going to keep me in my business for very long," he said.Learn more about this issue at Couric & Co. blog.
So he's glad both McCain's and Obama's cap and trade program would give him credit for greenhouse gases he's capturing … so he could sell them to a company that needs more pollution permits.
"I just happen to be one of those people who kind of enjoys being out in front of the pack," he said.
Jean Pennycook knows whoever is elected, the Antarctic ice is unlikely to stop melting anytime soon. But she's relieved the next president won't deny it is happening.
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See all 64 CommentsFrom the article: "Ice loss in Antarctica has increased by 75 percent in the last dozen years due to global warming. "
Way to go dispelling those myths. LOL.
"I''ve put forward very substantial proposals to get 80 percent reductions in greenhouse gasses by 2050," Obama told CBS News.
Obama and McCain are just talking to hear themselves. There ain''t no money to do anything anyways.
You''''re intellually bankrupt."
Posted by Hillary_FTW2 at 08:57 PM : Sep 23, 2008
I think you have that backwards.
MUST READ!!!!
Despite having authored two autobiographies, Barack Obama has never written about his most important executive experience. From 1995 to 1999, he led an education foundation called the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), and remained on the board until 2001. The group poured more than $100 million into the hands of community organizers and radical education activists.
AP
Bill Ayers.
The CAC was the brainchild of Bill Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground in the 1960s. Among other feats, Mr. Ayers and his cohorts bombed the Pentagon, and he has never expressed regret for his actions. Barack Obama''''s first run for the Illinois State Senate was launched at a 1995 gathering at Mr. Ayers''''s home.
The Obama campaign has struggled to downplay that association. Last April, Sen. Obama dismissed Mr. Ayers as just "a guy who lives in my neighborhood," and "not somebody who I exchange ideas with on a regular basis." Yet documents in the CAC archives make clear that Mr. Ayers and Mr. Obama were partners in the CAC. Those archives are housed in the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago and I''''ve recently spent days looking through them.
Posted by LMartinK
i think it wasn''t intentional....it was merely one of those visual eye tricks
all the extra ice they saw was from when they were looking at the video of the icefields and tipped the iced tea (long island?) glass the eye blended the 2 images into one?
it has to be that or possibly a repeat of something rush limbaugh said? in either case they are completely delusional.
Cause it is. We are all disgusting pigs and have no respect for our earth.
"Don''''t trust this government about anything it has to say anymore.. Anything."
Shut up, donnie.:) This isn''t just about your government. I happen to trust my government. (well, sort of) Wait....what are you talking about anyways? YOUR government doesn''t even believe in it anyways, so you won''t have to worry about spending money.
"Arctic permafrost, which is starting to melt due to global warming, is releasing five times more methane gas than their calculations had predicted. That level of emission is alarming because methane itself is a greenhouse gas. Increased amounts will therefore accelerate warming, cause more melting of Siberian bogs and Arctic wasteland, and so release even more. ''It''s a slow-motion time bomb,'' said climate expert Professor Ted Schuur, of the University of Florida."
from http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2006/sep/10/russia.climatechange
For those who''ve worried that eventually Arctic warming would cause a potentially devastating release of permafrost methane, it appears this is beginning to happen NOW in Siberia. This could be VERY SERIOUS, and its happening RIGHT NOW! Many who''ve worried about the consequences of Global Warming have worried about this particular tipping point. I find it alarming that it could be happening right now.
Quote from another source:
"Barack Obama should be ashamed of himself. The men and women he may one day command are the same men and women who protect him each and every day. And no matter how many flag pins he puts on his lapels, no matter how many stars and stripes he plasters behind himself at speeches, his disgust for the military is an open blemish on his patriotic pretenses."
...no, wait, I''m not a mindless, America-the-Beautiful-hating-republican. So I guess I won''t
...no, wait, I''''m not a mindless, America-the-Beautiful-hating-republican. So I guess I won''''t
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Posted by colorwindows at 12:41 AM : Sep 24, 2008
And you just sound so intelligent. Maybe you should work on your spelling and proper grammer before you go throwing stones at someone. You must be an honor to the democrats. I seem to see the same thing in each liberal post....foul mouths and hateful comments. You seem to think you are the only one with the right to an opinion. Unless you can speak to me intelligently and in proper english please don''t respond to anything I write. Thank you and have a wonderful evening.
LOL at the rate the ice is melting, these piddling little nothing efforts like that will not even put a scratch on the problem- a total waste of time.
Go look at the photos of the Greenland ice cap melt, it is 2 MILES thick and large fissures have opened up in this ice and melt water is pouring down them like niagara falls. Sat views and historic photos compared show it all, its not an issue of IF there is a change, the only question is what is /are the CAUSE(s)? it''s not your stupid little can of hair spray or that you drove 1 miles today instead of walking.
Ever heard of Psalm 666?
Might want to try reading it again.
If you would trust in *** and stop being afraid about things this world "scares you" about, then your fears would be erased.
If you want to know the Truth about the future of mankind and this world as we know it, pick up the BuyBULL and read it.
Posted by StopSocialis (Rick MiASSe, singingrick, TruthWord08, Providence_D and 1000 other alias'' he lost)
I''ll pick it up and BURN it, you want to comfort people you dont direct them to read a book of DEATH and destruction that is chock full of VIOLENCE, death, animal sacrifice and worse, you need psychiatric HELP not a dam old book of fables and violence, death and destruction warning readers they will be BURNED forever if they dont toe the line perfectly!
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Posted by usapride70 at 12:49 AM : Sep 24, 2008
@ usapride70: It may have been disrespectful, but it was a valid question. Allow me:
Sir, since you''ve A)jacked the thread just as the gentleman before accused you of, and B) apparently been offended by the way in which he did it, I feel it is my duty to take you task, respectfully, on your off-topic comments. Why, sir, would you attempt to shift the focus of this comment thread away from environmental policy? Is it because you don''t think your candidate''s record on the environment will withstand scrutiny, or is there another reason? Also, I would point out, simply for your sake moving forward, that you may want to spell grammar properly before taking anyone to task on their "grammer" (kidding. I''d never beat anyone up in a comment thread for their spelling). I look forward to your reply.
Another lie by the Global warming nuts.
Posted by Willyhenail
Have ya every watched cows? all they DO is EAT, EAT, EAT- grass and hay has very little nutrients, that''s why horses, cows, goats etc have to constantly eat, it wouldn''t take many hours to consume 200# of grass and hay plus water- manure is also WATER since it''s wet, one gallon of water is about 8 pounds.
200# may be optimistic and it may be closer to 100#, but whether its 100, 200 or 50 isn''t the issue, the fact is meat production wastes enormous amounts of resources per pound, about 8 to 1 loss as I recall
Now with all that said I really can''t argue McCain''s pascal''s theory type argument. Even if global warming isn''t man made the worst that will happen is that we leave our children a cleaner planet.
Most people have done amazing things in their younger years (Jesus, Bill Gates, MLK, Steve Jobs, etc.). I think it is a fantasy that experience is more important than natural talent/intelligence. McCain has been in office for 26 years and it is during those years that our country has taken a wrong turn economically and politically. To expect him to understand the depth in which we must turn is unrealistic. He is part of the problem...not the solution.
To scale, the Sun is the size of a basketball compared to the golf ball size earth.
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Posted by glenda743 at 10:23 PM : Sep 23, 2008
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HA!HA!HA1HA!
1-sarah palin, who could be a heart beat away from the presidency and who claims that she is ready in her one and only interview, refused to give an interview when she met with intl digniteries for the first time
2- the vp debate is being scaled down coz Sarah Palin
Palin sat down with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The conversation was private, the pictures public, meant to pad her resume for voters concerned about her lack of experience in world
If the earth has been around for millions of years...and all was good, then why in the last 30 years-which is quite the misnomer because in the 70s the DOOMSDAY SOCIALISTIC PROPHETS were screaming GLOBAL FREEZING!-WE EFFING COULDN"T HAVE DESTROYED the whole planet. That''s crazy.
ALL OF you global alarmists are crazy. CRAZY CRAZY and weird too!
To everyone who claims that atmospheric carbon dioxide causes global warming, there is a straightforward rebuttal:
If a theory doesn`t fit the facts, the theory is WRONG!!!
Palin sat down with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The conversation was private, the pictures public, meant to pad her resume for voters concerned about her lack of experience in world
Posted by Xzonz at 04:08 AM : Sep 24, 2008"
Yeah, but Obama only had pictures taken in his meetings during his Magical Mystery Tour. None of them wanted to talk to him.
SHAME ON YOU! You are the ones who TRULY HATE AMERICA!
People are getting sick of it and are not listening to you ANYMORE!
No penguins exist at the north pole, where sea ice is supposedly disappearing.
Penguins live at the south pole, or more specifically, in Antarctica, where sea ice and ice in general, is growing.
Yet another myth of the Global Warming clique - dispelled.
Posted by OneAmerican6 at 07:44 PM : Sep 23, 2008
Do you bother to educate yourself on anything?Antartica is indeed LOSING ice, it is NOT growing! In March, a huge slab of the Wilkins ice shelf in Antartica fell away. This one chunk was roughly the size of the state of Connecticut.
Even FOX News has a link to it:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,341428,00.html
You''''re intellually bankrupt.
More reason to vote for neither of these stupid f*cks!
Posted by Hillary_FTW2 at 08:57 PM : Sep 23, 2008
And the credentials that qualify you to make this assertion are...? Unless you are a climatologist, I don''t see that you have any credibility whatsoever.
Think people at NASA (rocket scientists--as well as climatologists) are a bunch of idiots? Here''s their link on global warming (not that you''re interested in facts, but thought I''d give it a try anyway)
http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/global_warming_worldbook.html
Posted by LMartinK at 09:21 PM : Sep 23, 2008
Ubrew is far too intelligent for that. He was only responding to OneAmerican to tell him that he was full of it. Read the entire post.
Just because people work together on a board doesn''t make them buddies. Should we use the same criteria to judge your candidate''s associations? You don''t WANT to open up THAT can of worms, truly.
Posted by HSinCO at 10:46 PM : Sep 23, 2008
Yes, and for those who don''t know, George Will is about as conservative as you can get.
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Posted by bsherm9 at 01:49 AM : Sep 24, 2008
Please permit me to correct you on one thing. I am a mam not a sir. lol
I haven''t seen a board yet that stays on topic and I am just as guilty. I get something in my mind and heart and I type. Seems that everyone does this on every board I find. My apologies if getting off topic offended you.
Might want to try reading it again.
If you would trust in God and stop being afraid about things this world "scares you" about, then your fears would be erased.
If you want to know the Truth about the future of mankind and this world as we know it, pick up the Bible and read it.
Posted by StopSocialis at 01:29 AM : Sep 24, 2008
God gave us brains for a reason--he expects us to use them!
Ever hear ''God helps those who help themselves''?
fenner at 04:12 AM : Sep 24, 2008
Yep, you are.
she finally let them get their little pictures and then shooed them out...AS IT SHOULD BE.
govererning is not just for the cameras, you know. IT IS A SERIOUS THING.
Posted by FENNER at 04:15 AM : Sep 24, 2008
Funny how she was willing to allow cameras, but is too afraid to answer any questions. In other words, it was nothing BUT a photo op.
The American people deserve to hear answers from candidates.
you''''ll be sorry in the end and you will see just who got the last laugh.
Posted by fenner at 04:19 AM : Sep 24, 2008
You make fun of God everytime you post here with your mindless drivel.
God gave you a brain because he expected you to USE it!
Posted by CarlyLaine at 04:25 AM : Sep 24, 2008
Have fun living under water...
Posted by adillon70 at 08:12 AM : Sep 24, 2008
Doesn''t matter whether it''s man-made, a natural cycle or a combination of both. The results will have a HUGE effect on civilization as we know it.
He11, even Bush admits that it''s happening.
Whatever we can do to decrease the consequences is going to help buy us time. In fact, an increase in R&D into ''green'' technologies is probably the best hope for renewed business in our country. We SHOULD be the world leader in this area. It would be an incredible boost to our economy if we could get off our duffs and do it.
If you thought 9-11 and the current Wall St meltdown was bad, wait until Manhattan is under water and see what happens to our economy then.
Hope you don''t live near the shore.
BTW, the least that we might expect is to leave our kids a healthier planet.
Got a problem with that?
Posted by sistermay99 at 08:13 AM : Sep 24, 2008
If George Will, an ultra-conservative, is recommending Obama as the better candidate, I don''t think that it''s because he finds McCain to be too moderate.
Your lack of logic is absurd!!
Posted by sistermay99 at 08:18 AM : Sep 24, 2008
I have no problem with Jesus. As a matter of fact, this liberal wishes that people would try harder to live by his teachings.
My point was that ''God helps those who help themselves and since he gave each of us a brain, he expects us to use them. Putting your head in the sand and saying ''whatever'' is an insult to God. He''s going to ask us why we were too lazy and stupid that we didn''t help to protect this beautiful earth that he created for us. We are supposed to be the ''stewards'' of the earth, remember? Geez, even the evangelicals are starting to see that point.
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