Democrats and global warming
A RECENT sketch on Saturday Night Live suggested how the world would be if Al Gore had won the presidency in 2000. In the last six years we have been able to stop global warming, intoned Mr Gore. No one could have predicted the negative results of this. Glaciers that once were melting are now on the attack.
Nerdy environmentalism is Mr Gore s forte. He would have ridden that hobby horse in the 2000 campaign, according to Joe Klein in Politics Lost , if his political consultants had not muzzled him. Now, almost alone, he has brought his favourite issue back into the political spotlight. His film about the horrors of global warming, An Inconvenient Truth , opened this week in Los Angeles and New York.
With it comes inevitable talk of another try at the presidency. Mr Gore consistently waves that away. But other prominent Democrats are raising their voices for the cause. This week Senator Hillary Clinton urged action on global warming in a big speech on energy policy in Washington, DC. Notably, she praised Mr Gore as a committed visionary on global warming for more than two decades . Last week, her husband Bill told graduates at the University of Texas s public affairs school in Austin-as temperatures outside soared to 34C-that Climate change is more remote than terror, but a more profound threat.
Do voters care? Although a Gallup poll this spring found that 67% of respondents thought the quality of the environment was getting worse , climate change is hardly in the class of Iraq or health care. And it is still rare for politicians to mention it on the stump. Bill Ritter, the Democratic nominee for governor in Colorado, notes that global warming is a worry for the ski industry in his state-but says his audiences care more about the quality of their water or their air. Most midwestern politicians nowadays cannot talk enough about alternative fuels, but they link them to the economy rather than climate change, hoping for a boost for local corn or soyabean farmers.
A few bad hurricanes may change that indifference. The 2006 season begins next week, and federal meteorologists predict it will be particularly nasty. Although conservatives have vigorously disputed the link between global warming and last year s dreadful storms, another Katrina could push people over the edge. Gregg Easterbrook of the Brookings Institution, a think tank, says that politicians also need a new tack. Instead of dwelling on gloom and doom, they should appeal to American optimism, emphasising that the problem can probably be solved after all, and cheaper and faster than anyone thinks.
And what about conservatives? George Bush has recently conceded that America is addicted to oil , but he still argues about the causes of global warming. John McCain, another possible presidential contender in 2008, has been out in front. He has sponsored legislation for cap and trade emissions of greenhouse gases, and declared in a recent speech in Phoenix that Climate change is real and is having a major impact on our way of life.
科普:每个国家的名字是怎么来的?
国内英语资讯:China, Finland agree to further advance bilateral ties
国际英语资讯:Abe, Trump agree to exert more pressure on DPRK
国际英语资讯:Brazil fined for fifth time for homophobic chants
体坛英语资讯:Pizarro backs besieged striker Guerrero
Why we yawn 我们为什么打哈欠?
国内英语资讯:Chinese, Philippine coast guards meet in Beijing on cooperation
国内英语资讯:Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark arrives in Mozambique
全球竞争力排名 香港第6中国大陆第27
国内英语资讯:China calls for patience over probe of chemical weapons use in Syria
体坛英语资讯:Feature: In Argentina, football keeps kids on right track
花了这么多钱买眼霜,结果只是心理作用?
国内英语资讯:China Focus: China publishes draft supervision law to solicit public opinion
语法测验:关系从句
考古新发现:人类的祖先是老鼠
体坛英语资讯:Feature: Yego fired up to repeat Beijing heroics at Doha athletics worlds
2017年12月英语六级作文范文:地铁禁食
How to Spend My Time 如何利用我的时间
国内英语资讯:Premier Lis visit to the Philippines to promote China-ASEAN ties
A Strong Girl 一个坚强的女孩
国内英语资讯:Xi sends condolences to Trump on deadly Texas shooting
体坛英语资讯:Lyon and Saint-Etienne matchup halted 30 minutes for Fekirs controversial celebration
国内英语资讯:Second volume of Xis book on governance published
德州教堂枪杀案凶手的武器:AR-15式步枪
女王的昵称是卷心菜?说说名人们的有趣昵称
国际英语资讯:Spotlight: What to expect from UN climate talks in Bonn
国际英语资讯:Greek socialist partys headquarters attacked, no injuries
体坛英语资讯:Local figure skaters interpret Chinese stories ahead of Winter Olympics
剁手党福利:购物节不只有双11,年末各大促销日盘点[1]
国际英语资讯:EU to approve tax heaven blacklist in December
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |