Today at Howard University, Presidential Candidate, John Edwards announced his plan for his campaign to go Carbon Neutral, saying that Climate Change is already affecting us and that bold action is needed now. After speaking for a half an hour, a hand shot in the air.
“Senator Edwards my name is Courtney Fryxell, I stand here today as part of the Youth Climate Movement. I want to thank you so much for yesterday’s announcement that your campaign will be climate neutral (applause). The youth climate movement is pressing for legislation that will cut carbon by 80% by 2050. Senator Edwards will you presidential candidate to commit to 80% carbon reductions by 2050?”
John Edwards: “YES”
John Edwards is the first major presidential candidate to publicly commit to 80% by 2050!! Yahooooooooooo!
This is what we need to do; stand up and ask the right questions. Attend these events when candidates come to your area. Press them. Without your involvement we won’t get a president that is truly committed to fighting global warming!!!!!
Like I said in an earlier post… EDWARDS IS A BEAST!
Who likes the sound of Edwards/Obama? I do. I really do.
Like I’ve always said, COURTNEY IS A CLIMATE HERO!
No really, way to stand up and ask the big question, Courtney. You rock!
We know what we need, now let’s get the commitments!
This is great! Nice job Courtney!
I was at this event and I shot video of it. Here is the portion of the video where he talks about climate change, including Courtney’s question and his answer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO0WLAb57bw
Nice job of pinning the politico down to a specific commmitment – you ROCK, grrl! Meanwhile, let’s hope this guy doesn’t get crucified the way the pathblazing Al Gore has by the political right.
Shadia Wood,
I admire your committee and energy on this all-important issue.
It will take young voters such as yourself to speak out
and pursue careers that will ultimately solve the Climate Crisis,
that our fragile planet is now facing.
(I’ve been sounding the alarm, since the 1st Earth Day,
and believe me, it can be a thankless pursuit sometimes.
However, people do hear you, and do stop to think,
even when they say they don’t care.)
Regarding John Edwards, I believe him to be very
knowledgeable and sincere about fighting CO2,
including leading the world to reach Higher Carbon Caps
and reversing the problem:
http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/2/26/235120/300
http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/3/9/124713/5802
Shadia, and friends, please check out John’s Blog
and add your Voices and Energy to his visionary campaign.
He needs you. The World needs you.
That 10-year window to do something is closing fast.
We must get an Environmental President,
this next time around, before its too late.
Thank you so much for your efforts.
jamess
Portland Oregon
http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/3/4/112224/5060
http://blog.johnedwards.com/user/jamess/entries
It’ll be interesting to see how the other candidates respond. This could really be a major step toward keeping global warming a hot topic throughout the election. In order for America to fully greenerize, we need to keep the candidates and media talking about it. I’m really impressed with your group.
Well, a few months later, I think we can say with certainty that John Edwards’ willingness to take an early stand for a bold greenhouse gas reduction target has helped shift the debate forward and drive the other candidates to follow.
Edwards is pulling away from the pack on this issue, and that’s great news for all of us, as even if he doesn’t win (and I hope he does), he is successfully driving forward the other candidates to take bolder positions. As we know from this post, Edwards was the first major candidate to support an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Now all three major candidates (and most of the others) have publicly supported that position (as the LCV scorecard indicates). It took Obama and Clinton a few months to get on board, but all three candidates are now there, and that is largely a credit to Edwards’ willingness to take a stand and adopt a bold position on climate change, shifting the terms of the debate and encouraging the other candidates to follow or be left behind.
Regardless of who you support in the primary, I think we can all agree that it is exciting to see climate change become a central issue in the 2008 democratic primary, and it’s great to finally hear our leaders talking about this most crucial issue! Whether you support his bid for presidency or not, Edwards’ deserves credit for playing a key role in driving forward that discussion.
And we should all feel proud that youth climate activists like Courtney have played a central role in pushing the candidates’ to support stronger positions on this crucial issue. Keep the pressure, and keep encouraging your friends, family and anyone else you can to make climate change a central issue when deciding which candidate to support and encourage them to let the candidates know it’s an important issue to them. We’re on our way to making sure the 2008 elections are The Climate Elections!