A coalition of national and state environmental groups is looking to put global warming on the front burner in the Iowa Caucuses.
Organizers for Iowa Global Warming have met with potential volunteers around the state, including a session in Iowa City on Wednesday night. Iowa Global Warming includes two Iowa groups and five national groups: the Iowa Renewable Energy Association (I-Renew), the Iowa Environmental Council, the League of Conservation Voters, the Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Environmental Law Policy Center.
Organizer Mike Carberry said some of the national groups considered their own efforts before joining the coalition. In three other early-primary states -- Nevada, South Carolina and New Hampshire -- the effort is called "The Heat Is On," but organizer Lindsay Ellerbach said the inclusion of the state groups makes this effort more Iowa-centered, hence the different name.
Although the effort is seen as a liberal cause, Carberry says “it’s a nonpartisan issue and most Iowans care about it." Most candidates, he said, "have acknowledged global warming, that it exists, and that it's man-made. Now we need to move to what their plans are to solve it.”
The profit motive, Carberry said, is making businesses, and consequently Republicans, more aware of the issue. As an issue moves to the center, entrepreneurs see ways to make money. “There’s a critical mass of companies that see where this is going and want to be part of the solution and have a seat at the table,” he said.
As a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, Iowa Global Warming can't endorse candidates or advocate specific positions. (The group is in fact firmly against global warming, despite the natural tendency for people to slip and say "Iowans FOR Global Warming.") Instead, the group hopes to ask a consistent set of questions of each candidate at public events. Iowa Global Warming will be videotaping and recording candidates whenever possible, and posting most of the material on their web site. “We want to be a one-stop shop so people can find out about every candidate,” said Ellerbach. The goal is to get answers full of specifics and detail. "We want comprehensive policy initiatives," said Carberry.
A concurrent goal is to raise the profile of the global warming issue. “We could ask staff for position papers, but this is a multi-pronged approach,” said Ellerbach. "We want candidates to know how many Iowans care about this, and candidates pay attention to the in person questions they hear at these events. The more we bring it up in public settings, the more they realize they need to talk about it on the stump.”
Iowa Global Warming provides a handy, laminated card of the current key questions such as:
"In order to address the growing threat of global warming, scientists tell us that we need to reduce global warming emissions by an average of two percent each year through the middle of the century - achieving 80 percent reductions by 2050. Do you have a plan to meet these or other targets?"
Carberry says the questions will evolve during the campaign and candidates provide more specific answers “Right now there’s a lot of ‘no articulated positions' on this,” he said, displaying a chart showing all candidates of both parties. Candidates were listed in alphabetical order without party affiliation.
Some of the potential volunteers debated the efficacy of national versus local action on the global warming issue. Carberry acknowledged the importance of local and personal steps, but said, "this particular campaign is working top down, because a lot of these things will take presidential leadership. You can’t set corporate average fuel economy standards on a city level."
At the session, volunteers got practical advice on how to handle themselves at candidate events: split up, raise your hand early, don't debate the candidates or the rest of the audience, and “don’t wear a tree hugging uniform.”
Iowa Global Warming plans to sign up as many volunteers as possible and notify them as quickly as possible of campaign events in their area. Organizers noted that advance notice from presidential campaigns tends to be short -- sometimes as little as two or three days. The group also hopes to meet with local volunteers to exchange ideas on a monthly basis.
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