Howie Hawkins for US Senate
www.hawkinsforsenate.net
Media Release
For immediate release: November 1, 2006
For more information: Howie Hawkins, (315) 425-1019
Sally Kim, (518) 364-2968
Calls for Emergency Transition to Renewable Energy to Stop Global Warming
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for US Senate, said today that
Hillary Clinton’s massive corporate fundraising explains her failure to
support a rapid transition to renewable energy and energy conservation to
stop global warming.
Hawkins called for Congress to pass legislation to reduce carbon emissions
by 70% in ten years. He said this goal, which is what leading climate
scientists say is necessary to stabilize the global climate, should take
priority over the special interests of the auto, oil, nuclear, and suburban
developer industries.
Hawkins also wants to cut the military budget by $300 billion annually and
invest it in a public works program to develop renewable energy and energy
conservation around the world. Hawkins said his plan for a global emergency
transition from fossil and nuclear fuels to renewable energy would “create
hundreds of thousands of new jobs in New York retrofitting our buildings,
industries, and infrastructure for the efficient use of renewable energy.
Such an investment would also be far more effective in promoting world peace
and national security than the so-called war on terror promoted by Bush and
Clinton. The United States would make friends by sharing technology instead
of making enemies in wars for oil in the Middle East and Central Asia.”
“Clinton is more interested in fundraising efficiency than in fuel
efficiency,” Hawkins stated. “She panders to corporate interests. She wants
to fund renewable energy with tax breaks for the giant oil, nuclear, and
auto corporations instead of setting standards they must meet at their own
expense. Clinton says she wants to negotiate with auto companies to get them
to improve fuel efficiency. This continues the reversal of the policy of
government mandated performance standards for environmental impacts that
started with the Nixon administration, and which Jimmy Carter extended to
fuel efficiency standards. This remained standard environmental policy
through the first Bush Presidency. It was the Clinton administration in the
1990s that switched from performance standards to so-called voluntary
compliance, which failed miserably as an environmental policy in everything
from protecting old growth forests to increasing fuel efficiency. The second
Bush presidency has continued this approach and now Hillary Clinton wants to
extend it further,” added Hawkins.
Hawkins also called for increased investment in mass transit, light rails,
inter-city freight and passenger trains, hybrid vehicles, and improved
tires. He proposed carbon-based eco-taxes on vehicles to encourage high
efficiency.
“The bottom line is the America can no longer be the energy hogs of the
world. We can’t all drive to work in single passenger gas-guzzlers. We have
to aggressively stop urban sprawl. We need to mandate energy efficient
buildings, lighting, and appliances. We have to require industries to use
renewable energy and combined heat and power, and to increase production
efficiency. We have to promote sustainability. Otherwise our grandchildren
will condemn us for refusing to take action even when the dangers of
inaction are so clear,” Hawkins said.
“The positive side is that we can create jobs for all rebuilding our energy
infrastructure and urban structures around the sustainable use of renewable
resources. It is a chance to rebuild our towns and cities around designs
that promote vibrant neighborhoods and communities, with homes, work,
schools, and shopping all within walking distance,” Hawkins added.
The Boston Globe blasted Hillary Clinton in an April 17 editorial as a
“climate change no-show.” Hillary was part of the inner circle of Bill
Clinton’s administration that bullied the world with arm-twisting and
horse-trading to water down the Kyoto Accords, and then failed to submit it
to the US Senate for ratification. Earlier this year she refused to sign a
letter from all the Democratic US Senators, except her and John Kerry,
asking the EPA for a waiver to allow California, New York, Massachusetts,
and several other states to set carbon reduction goals higher than the
federal goals.
“Climate change, especially if unchecked, will have a major negative impact
on agriculture production in New York and on coastal areas around New York
City and Long Island. It will produce heat waves and increased storm
severity. The flooding patterns we saw in the Southern Tier and Central New
York this year will become more common. The ocean storm surges downstate
will be devastating, resulting in significant loss of life and property. If
we continue with the same old policies that pander to corporate interests as
Clinton proposes, we are doomed to an ecological Armageddon due to climate
change,” warned Hawkins.
A recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists outlined major climate
changes that will take place in the northeast in the coming decades. While
global warming is too far along to avoid all changes, the actions taken by
state and federal government in the next few years will determine how
devastating the changes are. By the end of the century, if only limited
action is taken, New York will have a climate more similar to present day
South Carolina, with annual droughts, months of summer temperatures
consistently in excess of 90 degrees, and a possible rise in the sea level
of more than 20 feet if the ice caps melt. While rainfall levels might
similar to today, rain would come less frequently, but in heavier storms,
leading to increased flooding, followed by periods of drought.
“Human beings should be smart enough to take corrective action when we
realize that we are heating up to planet to the point where it will
increasingly become unlivable. The problem is that short-term profits and
campaign contributions too often get in the way of common sense. Let us
hope that the collapse of our civilization is not the result. If we learn
the lessons of human history, which show how so many civilizations were
destroyed by undermining their ecological base, we will put our common
interest in long-term survival before the giant corporations’ interest in
short-term profits,” noted Hawkins.
