A New Evangelical Environmentalism?

I came across an interesting blog post this morning (prompted by a story on NPR) by Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It's a bit of a mea culpa on the evangelical movement's history of hostility toward the environmental movement.

It has always confounded me that religious leaders, especially southern evangelicals, have enthusiastically adopted the amoral (and in many cases immoral) political and cultural positions of free-market corporate interests and the politicians who shill for them.

A little background: As a child, my parents - both staunch Southern Baptists - shuttled our family to church at least 3 times a week. It was a ritual. We were prompt for Sunday School at 9:45 followed by church at 11, plus Sunday night services and Wednesday night Prayer Meeting. Sometimes, we met on Thursday night as well. Consequently, I became quite a student of the Bible.

I was a curious child. When I was in my early teens, I procured a Greek New Testament; as a closer link to the original text, I figured the translation would be more accurate than the standard King James Version we were required to own and read. My earnestness led me to seek out and focus on the teachings of Jesus since, in Sunday School we had learned that Jesus often corrected misguide disciples - the guys who allegedly authored most of the New Testament - when they offered their misunderstanding of his teachings.

Ironically, that practice is exactly what led me to move away from the Baptist Church as I found a disconnect between many of the teachings of Jesus and the political positions of the church. (That and the fact that, when I served as choir director in a splinter church at the age of 17, the deacons asked me to leave because the music was getting "a little to fast and a little to loud." Another ironic turn of events as today's rock-and-roll praise bands, in comparison, make my efforts to liven up Calvinist hymns seem extraordinarily tame. But that's another story.)

For example, according to the New Testament, Jesus imparted such wisdom as 1) don't attack your enemies, love them, 2) give money to the poor, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, 3) don't judge people, 4) associate with people society frowns upon, and 5) don't covet wealth or turn the church into a business. Sounds a little to the left of Dennis Kucinich, doesn't it? Could you imagine any presidential candidate that ran on this platform getting any significant votes from the evangelical community? Hardly. In fact, evangelical Christians would most likely be the first to crucify - politically speaking - any candidate for public office who campaigned on these very issues.

And in terms of environmental awareness and stewardship, evangelical Christians have been almost uniformly hostile, increasingly so over the past couple of decades. More than one person has suggested that evangelical philosophy is this: "Jesus is coming soon to rapture the saved, so why take care of the environment since we won't be here to witness the devastation?" I don't really believe many evangelicals take this callous position. I think it's more the case that evangelicals adopted the worldview of free market secular forces who agreed with them on a small handful of hot-button political issues such as abortion. Over time, many evangelicals co-opted the inhumane social and environmental positions of so-called market conservatives they otherwise would have nothing in common with.

Cultural conservatives and religion were not always such cozy bedfellows. As recently as the mid-twentieth century, most religious leaders leaned more to the liberal side of the aisle, using biblical texts to underpin their political positions. In my opinion, this country (and the world) has suffered greatly because of organized religion's radical right shift away from many of the basic humanitarian principles laid out by the very guy - Jesus Christ - they named the religion after, and the religions establishment hasn't done itself any favors.

There's an evangelical bumper sticker that's been around for some time now: "Love the sinner, Hate the sin." I think when it comes to many evangelical Christians, the slogan might as well be, "Love the messenger, Hate the message."

So it comes as a refreshing turn that Dr. Moore is openly addressing this disconnect. A few excerpts:

"Every human culture is formed in a tie with the natural environment. In my hometown, that’s the father passing down his shrimping boat to his son or the community gathering for the Blessing of the Fleet at the harbor every year. In a Midwestern town, it might be the apple festival. In a New England town, it might be the traditions of whalers or oystermen. The West is defined by the frontier and the mountains. And so on.

When the natural environment is used up, unsustainable for future generations, cultures die. When Gulfs are dead, when mountaintops are removed, when forests are razed with nothing left in their place, when deer populations disappear, cultures die too.

And what’s left in the place of these cultures and traditions is an individualism that is defined simply by the appetites for sex, violence, and piling up stuff."

Sounds almost like a public service announcement from the Sierra Club, doesn't it? Check out Dr. Russell Moore's complete post on his blog - Moore to the Point - here.

The Living Environment

This week's newspaper column: Read it in the Hattiesburg Amercian.

Try this.

Next time you’re driving across town, instead of noticing how things look, be aware of how the physical environment makes you feel.

On the typical suburban strip, do the oceans of concrete and asphalt make you anxious? Are the buildings you see interesting enough to make you take a second look? Do you feel any joy in the experience, or is it all business getting from here to there?

Now turn onto a tree-lined residential street, preferably one dating back a hundred years or more. Notice that the proportions and colors of your surroundings have changed. You pass underneath a soft green canopy of mature trees, and the older houses all seem to have character. You drive slower to take it all in. Can you feel the difference?

Better yet, for a more visceral experience, park your car and take off on foot. Now you can really feel your surroundings. Is your sensation different while strolling down a sidewalk buffered from the street by trees and vegetation than when walking along the shoulder of busy roadway? Do you feel different walking across a parking lot than you walking through a park or that neighborhood with the interesting houses? What if there’s no sidewalk? How does that change your perception?

You don’t need a Ph.D. for this little experiment. We all, as humans, have the innate ability to intuitively feel the world around us. This applies to the world we build as well as our natural surroundings.

I’ve often heard people say “I like old buildings.” But what is it that we like about them? Why do they seem to have so much character and personality?

Go to any old downtown district where the older buildings are still intact. The buildings play, the shades and shadows dance, and the space comes alive. The facades are not self-conscious and reserved; they are expressive.

There was a time when buildings and neighborhoods were designed with the human spirit in mind, and unapologetically so. No wonder we find so much delight in those older buildings. The buildings and spaces we respond to most are those that most closely reflect our humanity.

Yes buildings must keep the rain out and not fall down, and our exterior spaces must facilitate our movement from here to there, but those are intellectual exercises. Building codes and zoning ordinances exist to insure that we adhere to the practical side of things.

We are emotional creatures. Love, joy, excitement, the feeling of safety – these are just a few of the emotions that elevate the human spirit.

When we construct buildings and carve out spaces that begin and end with practicality, the resulting environment becomes soul-less.

Conversely, when we go beyond practicality with design solutions that honor and express the human spirit, everything comes alive.

Green Letter Bible

For your sabbath day environmental meditations, check out this new "Green Letter" Bible highlighting environmental references with green text. I've often wondered why so many Christians, especially the fundamentalists, reject the environmental teachings of their own official canon. This volume must have been inspired by the red letter Bible first published in 1900 with the words of Jesus printed in red. along with the desire to point out the spiritual nature of environmental stewardship.

For the upright will abide in the land, and the innocent will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut of from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

---Proverbs 1.21-22

A link to the website: The Green Bible

New and Improved Whitehouse.gov

Change has come...to Whitehouse.gov, the official website of the US President. The new tech-savvy Administration posted a newly designed site yesterday as Obama took office outlining policy positions and Administration activities.

An excerpt:


ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The energy challenges our country faces are severe and have gone unaddressed for far too long. Our addiction to foreign oil doesn't just undermine our national security and wreak havoc on our environment -- it cripples our economy and strains the budgets of working families all across America. President Obama and Vice President Biden have a comprehensive plan to invest in alternative and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs.

The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

* Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
* Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
* Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
* Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
* Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Energy Plan Overview

Provide Short-term Relief to American Families

* Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation.
* Swap Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Cut Prices.

Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years

* Increase Fuel Economy Standards.
* Get 1 Million Plug-In Hybrid Cars on the Road by 2015.
* Create a New $7,000 Tax Credit for Purchasing Advanced Vehicles.
* Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
* A “Use it or Lose It” Approach to Existing Oil and Gas Leases.
* Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas.

Create Millions of New Green Jobs

* Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
* Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source – Energy Efficiency.
* Weatherize One Million Homes Annually.
* Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology.
* Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.

Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 Percent by 2050

* Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
* Make the U.S. a Leader on Climate Change.


Click on http://www.whitehouse.gov/ for what promises to be an interesting and engaging (and ever-changing) update on Administration activities and policy initiatives.

Van Jones: Working Together for a Green New Deal

After the election, where do we go from here?

Van Jones advances the school of thought that all things are interrelated, including environment and the economy. Jones, coming from a background of anti-poverty advocacy, envisions a new green economy that enhances all sectors of the economy, including traditionally poor and disadvantaged segments of the population. He lays out a plan for a new New Deal in his book, The Green Collar Economy.

From an article in The Nation magazine adapted from the book, here are a few excerpts.


(A)t a certain point it occurred to me that what we need is less investment in the fight against and more energy in the fight for: for positive alternatives to violence and incarceration. It was around that time that I got involved in the environmental movement. And I came to understand that the answer to our social, economic and ecological crises can be one and the same: a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.

The fact is, when many ordinary people hear the term "green," they still automatically think the message is probably for a fancy, elite set--not for themselves. And as long as that remains true, the green movement will remain too anemic politically and too alien culturally to rescue the country.

Enlightened, affluent people who embrace green values do a great deal of good for the country and the earth--and they are making an important difference every day. But nobody should make the mistake of believing that a small circle of highly educated, upper-income enviros can unite America and lead it all by themselves.

For the sake of the ship--our planet--and all aboard it, the effort to go green must be all hands on deck.

We can take the unfinished business of America on questions of inclusion and equal opportunity and combine it with the new business of building a green economy, thereby healing the country on two fronts and redeeming the soul of the nation. We must.

Read the article - Working Together for a Green New Deal - here:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081117/jones

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton is the “mom” we love to complain about.

“Why does she make me wear a coat when I go outside...she never lets me stay out late...she's so annoying when she tells me to wear my seat belt...she’s just being mean when she says “we can’t afford it”…why can’t I live off chips and coke?...she doesn’t understand me.”

But somehow I get the feeling that Hillary is going to do what’s best for me – whether I like it or not!

Senator Clinton’s plans call for us all to participate in a new way of thinking starting with a shift of focus from a carbon-based economy to clean green economy, producing millions of new jobs in the process.

Forget the old paradigm that its either the economy or the environment; Hillary wants to create a whole new generation of “green collar” jobs by restructuring incentives (both for corporations and individuals) focused on creating a carbon-neutral economic model.

From her website:

Hillary would transform our economy from carbon-based to clean and energy efficient, jumpstarting research and development through a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund and doubling investment in basic energy research. She would also spur the green building industry by funding the retrofitting and modernization of 20 million low-income homes and take concrete steps to reduce electricity consumption, including enacting strict appliance efficiency standards and phasing out incandescent light bulbs.

Recognizing that transportation accounts for 70 percent of U.S. oil consumption, Hillary would increase fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030, but would help automakers retool their production facilities through $20 billion in "Green Vehicle Bonds."

To take the steps necessary to transition to a clean and renewable energy future, Hillary will urge all of the nation's stakeholders to contribute to the effort. Automakers will be asked to make more efficient vehicles; oil and energy companies to invest in cleaner, renewable technologies; utilities to ramp up use of renewables and modernize the grid; coal companies to implement clean coal technology; government to establish a cap and trade carbon emissions system and renew its leadership in energy efficient buildings and services; individuals to conserve energy and utilize efficient light bulbs and appliances in their homes; and industry to build energy efficient homes and buildings.

Hillary's plan to promote energy independence, address global warming, and transform our economy includes:

A new cap-and-trade program that auctions 100 percent of permits alongside investments to move us on the path towards energy independence;

An aggressive comprehensive energy efficiency agenda to reduce electricity consumption 20 percent from projected levels by 2020 by changing the way utilities do business, catalyzing a green building industry, enacting strict appliance efficiency standards, and phasing out incandescent light bulbs;

A $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund, paid for in part by oil companies, to fund investments in alternative energy. The SEF will finance one-third of the $150 billon ten-year investment in a new energy future contained in this plan;

Doubling of federal investment in basic energy research, including funding for an ARPA-E, a new research agency modeled on the successful Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency;

Aggressive action to transition our economy toward renewable energy sources, with renewables generating 25 percent of electricity by 2025 and with 60 billion gallons of home-grown biofuels available for cars and trucks by 2030;

10 "Smart Grid City" partnerships to prove the advanced capabilities of smart grid and other advanced demand-reduction technologies, as well as new investment in plug-in hybrid vehicle technologies;

An increase in fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030, and $20 billion of "Green Vehicle Bonds" to help U.S. automakers retool their plants to meet the standards;

A plan to catalyze a thriving green building industry by investing in green collar jobs and helping to modernize and retrofit 20 million low-income homes to make them more energy efficient;

A new "Connie Mae" program to make it easier for low and middle-income Americans to buy green homes and invest in green home improvements;

A requirement that all publicly traded companies report financial risks due to climate change in annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission;

Creation of a "National Energy Council" within the White House to ensure implementation of the plan across the Executive Branch;

A requirement that all federal buildings designed after January 20, 2009 will be zero emissions buildings.


Here’s a link to a more comprehensive outline of her Energy and Environmental agenda.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/files/pdf/poweringamericasfuture.pdf


To be sure, Hillary’s plans are full of “go clean up your room” items. And like a good mom, she pencils in how to pay for it. Maybe we’ll all appreciate her efforts when we grow up.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama, evangelist of change, spells out chapter and verse on his vision for America’s Energy and Environmental policy.

On Energy.

Obama’s position paper, entitled “Barack Obama’s Plan To Make America A Global Energy Leader,” covers wide-ranging (but integrally important) topics such as building efficiency standards, investment in new energy technologies, and re-thinking the energy grid.

Although this description barely skims over the mountaintops, the campaign sums up the Energy plan as follows:

Obama’s comprehensive plan to combat global warming and achieve energy security will:

Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level recommended by top scientists to avoid calamitous impacts.

Invest $150 billion over the next ten years to develop and deploy climate friendly energy supplies, protect our existing manufacturing base and create millions of new jobs.

Dramatically improve energy efficiency to reduce energy intensity of our economy by 50 percent by 2030.

Reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce oil consumption overall by at least 35 percent, or 10 million barrels of oil, by 2030

Make the U.S. a leader in the global effort to combat climate change by leading a new international global warming partnership.


On the Environment.

Again, Obama addresses this issue with great detail. Clean air, clean water, climate change – all covered. But that’s just the start.

Here are some of what I found to be his most interesting proposals:


Create a Green Job Corps:

Obama will create an energy-focused youth jobs program for disconnected and disadvantaged youth. This program will provide participants with service opportunities to improve energy conservation and efficiency of homes and buildings in their communities, while also providing practical experience in important career fields of expected high-growth employment. It will also engage private sector employers and unions to provide apprenticeship opportunities. The program will also work closely with Obama’s proposed Clean Energy Corps to help participants find additional service opportunities after they complete the Green Job Corps.


Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities:

Reform Federal Transportation Funding: Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account and he will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country.

Require States to Plan for Energy Conservation: Barack Obama will require governors and local leaders in our metropolitan areas to make “energy conservation” a required part of their planning for the expenditure of federal transportation funds.

Use Innovative Measures to Dramatically Improve Efficiency of Buildings:

Set National Building Efficiency Goals: Barack Obama will establish a goal of making all new buildings carbon neutral, or produce zero emissions, by 2030. He’ll also establish a national goal of improving new building efficiency by 50 percent and existing building efficiency by 25 percent over the next decade to help us meet the 2030 goal.

Establish a Grant Program for Early Adopters: Barack Obama will create a competitive grant program to award those states and localities that take the first steps in implementing new building codes that prioritize energy efficiency. He will also provide a federal match for those states with public benefits funds that support energy efficiency retrofits for existing buildings.

Flip Incentives to Energy Utilities: Barack Obama will work to provide incentives for energy conservation by ensuring utilities get increased profits for improving energy efficiency, rather than higher energy consumption. This decoupling of profits from increased energy usage will incentivize utilities to partner with consumers and the federal government to reduce monthly energy bills for families and businesses. Obama will provide early adopter grants and other financial assistance from the federal government to states that implement this energy efficient policy.

And I could go on and on. Really. I urge you to dive into these two outlines of Senator Obama’s Energy and Environmental policy. It may not be hellfire and brimstone, but policies like this may just keep us from experiencing it on earth.

On Energy:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/EnergyFactSheet.pdf

On the Environment:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/EnvironmentFactSheet.pdf

John McCain

John McCain says nothing about energy policy on his campaign website; by all indications, the once-maverick McCain whole-heartedly embraces the policies of the current administration.


On the environment, the Senator sites Teddy Roosevelt as a model and calls for an ethic of good stewardship.


In the words of the campaign:



John McCain has a proud record of common sense stewardship. Along with his commitment to clean air and water, and to conserving open space, he has been a leader on the issue of global warming with the courage to call the nation to action on an issue we can no longer afford to ignore.

America has been blessed with a rich and diverse natural heritage. In the tradition of his hero, Theodore Roosevelt, John McCain believes that we are vested with a sacred duty to be proper stewards of the resources upon which the quality of American life depends. Ensuring clean air, safe and healthy water, sustainable land use, ample greenspace - and the faithful care and management of our natural treasures, including our proud National Park System - is a patriotic responsibility. One that must be met not only for the benefit of our generation, but for our children and those to whom we will pass the American legacy.

John McCain believes that America's economic and environmental interests are not mutually exclusive, but rather inextricably linked. Our economic prospects depend greatly upon the sustainable use of ample and unspoiled natural resources. A clean and healthy environment is well served by a strong economy. History shows that poverty is a poor steward.

As John McCain said, "Americans solve problems. We don't run from them." He believes that ignoring the problem reflects a "liberal live for today" attitude unworthy of our great country, and poses a serious and unacceptable threat to our environment, our economy, and U.S. national security. He has offered common sense approaches to limit carbon emissions by harnessing market forces that will bring advanced technologies, such as nuclear energy, to the market faster, reduce our dependence on foreign supplies of energy, and see to it that America leads in a way that ensures all nations do their rightful share.

By addressing this problem responsibly, John McCain believes we can meet our obligation to be proper caretakers of creation, in a manner of which we can be proud - by protecting our country, strengthening our economy, and addressing the challenges of our time, rather than leaving a much worse problem for our children.

The campaign did not list any specific policies, timetables, or specific goals in the area of energy or the environment. Feel free to fill me in if I've missed something.

note to readers: You may notice that this post was scheduled for yesterday. Some sort of wicked virus (I'll spare you the details) took me out of commission for a day and a half, thus no post yesterday. I'll be posting Barack and Hillary's Energy and Environmental positions on Friday and Saturday.

Mike Huckabee

A few years ago, Mike Huckabee reduced his carbon footprint by over 100 pounds with a healthy diet and exercise.

Fast forward to 2008 and he's running, literally, for President with a radical idea that America can be energy independent in 8 years. Although Huckabee mentions nothing about the environment per se on his campaign website, the idea of energy independence is an environmentalist’s dream.

Of course the devil is in the details, or as I like to say - and I suspect Gov. Huckabee might give me an “Amen” on this - the angels are in the details.

Huckabee:


The first thing I will do as President is send Congress my comprehensive plan for energy independence. We will achieve energy independence by the end of my second term.

Achieving energy independence is vital to achieving success both in the war on terror and in globalization. Energy independence will help guarantee both our safety and our prosperity.

We have to explore, we have to conserve, and we have to pursue all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass.

Energy independence has been on our "to do" list for over thirty years, my whole adult life. In 1973, in response to OPEC's oil embargo against us, President Nixon established Project Independence, which promised independence in 1980. We could have been energy independent a generation ago! The truth is, we are so pathetically behind the curve right now that federal spending for energy research and development is only 40% of what it was in 1979. Our efforts are haphazard and often pointless: today we have six million flex-fuel vehicles built to run on biodiesel or on E85, which is 85% ethanol, but only 1,413 pumps for those fuels in a country with 170,000 gas stations.

When energy shocks and crises come, we take aspirin to deal with the pain, but we don't address the underlying symptoms. This oil addiction is killing us. We have to stop popping pain pills and get ourselves cured. For all these years, we've never lacked the means, just the will. We've never harnessed the real energy source that independence requires - the energy of the American people.

The first thing I will do as President is send Congress my comprehensive plan for energy independence. I'll use the bully pulpit to inform you about the plan and ask for your support. I'll use the bully conference table to meet with members of Congress until I have the votes. The plan will get underway during my first term, and we will achieve energy independence by the end of my second term. The Huckabee Administration will be remembered as the time when we finally, finally achieved energy independence.

We have to explore, we have to conserve, and we have to pursue all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass. Some will come from our farms and some will come from our laboratories. Dwindling supplies and increasing demand from newly-industrialized countries of fossil fuels are driving up prices. These price increases will facilitate innovation and the opportunity for independence. We will remove red tape that slows innovation. We will set aside a federal research and development budget that will be matched by the private sector to seek the best new products in alternative fuels. Our free market will sort out what makes the most sense economically and will reward consumer preferences.

We think of globalization as primarily an economic issue and the war on terror as primarily a military issue. Yet the same key unlocks the door to success in both, and that key is energy independence.

None of us would write a check to Osama bin Laden, slip it in a Hallmark card and send it off to him. But that's what we're doing every time we pull into a gas station. We're paying for both sides in the war on terror - our side with our tax dollars, the terrorists' side with our gas dollars.

Our dependence on foreign oil has forced us to support repressive regimes, to conduct our foreign policy with one hand tied behind our back. It's time, it's past time, to untie that hand and reach out to moderate Muslims with both hands. Oil has not just shaped our foreign policy, it has deformed it. When I make foreign policy, I want to treat Saudi Arabia the same way I treat Sweden, and that requires us to be energy independent. These folks have had us over a barrel - literally - for way too long.

Energy independence will ease the effects of globalization because the future energy demands of countries like India and China, as their middle class grows, are going to be tremendous. Even if Middle East supplies remain stable - a huge if - that increased demand will drive prices up dramatically, which will hurt our economy by making everything more expensive here. But if we are energy independent, we will be able not just to take care of our own needs and protect our economy, we will also create jobs and grow our economy by developing technologies that we can sell to the rest of the world to meet their needs.

Achieving energy independence will make us safer and more prosperous, and is yet another way that I intend to lift America up.

So there you have it. You be the judge, unless of course you don't want to be judged by others. Huck know's what I mean.

If anyone from the Huckabee campain would like to enlighten us on his position on Environmental policy, verily, I say unto thee, please do so.

Huckabee's website:

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/

Ron Paul

Ron Paul is a free-marketeer. He is willing to let the “market” dictate the hows and whys of America's energy and environmental policy.

But here’s the caveat.

Congressman Dr. Paul wants everyone and every company to work from an even playing field. That means no government subsidies for energy or environmental concerns. (An exception is the promotion of tax credits for the installation of alternative energy systems – specifically solar, wind, and fuel cell technology.)

If a better, more efficient idea comes along, Paul is sure that a fair, free market will pay for its development and distribution.

On Energy, his beef is that government is meddling too much. In the words of the Ron Paul from his website:

“Government regulations, taxes, and corporate subsidies have distorted the energy market, causing some prices to rise above what they would be in the free market, while artificially lowering other prices and discouraging conservation. The costs of energy subsidies are hidden in your tax bill so the government can silently withhold them from your wallet with each paycheck.

As president, I will work to restore a free-market in energy. In particular, I will work with Congress to repeal federal regulations and taxes that impede the development of new energy sources. Such policies give government bureaucrats the power to pick winners and losers, and cause resources to be devoted to those producers with the most political clout rather than to the producers who are best able to meet the needs of consumers. Alternative sources should prove their viability in the free market. Any source that truly is cheaper and cleaner, yet still reliable, will not need government help to develop or sell.

Returning to a free market in energy will encourage conservation as well as the development of new forms of energy. In a free market, conservation occurs naturally when property rights are strictly enforced to prevent pollution and because resources become more costly as they become scarcer.

I have cosponsored legislation designed to encourage the development of alternative energy. H.R. 550 extends the investment tax credit to solar energy property and qualified fuel cell property, and H.R. 1772 provides tax credits for the installation of wind energy property.
Nuclear energy can also provide the American people with a reliable and environmentally sound alternative. Therefore, I will repeal federal regulations that hinder the development of nuclear energy. However, I will also repeal all federal subsidies and privileges granted the nuclear industry. Nuclear power should prove its worth in the free-market.

Clean, safe, and reliable energy is far too important to leave to the political whims of Washington bureaucrats.”

And on the Environment, Paul is also calling for less government intervention. Again, he takes a market-based approach but with an interesting take on the issue stressing property rights.

Ron Paul states:

“The federal government has proven itself untrustworthy with environmental policy by facilitating polluters, subsidizing logging in the National Forests, and instituting one-size-fits-all approaches that too often discriminate against those they are intended to help.

The key to sound environmental policy is respect for private property rights. The strict enforcement of property rights corrects environmental wrongs while increasing the cost of polluting.

In a free market, no one is allowed to pollute his neighbor's land, air, or water. If your property is being damaged, you have every right to sue the polluter, and government should protect that right. After paying damages, the polluter's production and sale costs rise, making it unprofitable to continue doing business the same way. Currently, preemptive regulations and pay-to-pollute schemes favor those wealthy enough to perform the regulatory tap dance, while those who own the polluted land rarely receive a quick or just resolution to their problems.

In Congress, I have followed a constitutional approach to environmental action:

I consistently vote against using tax dollars to subsidize logging in National Forests.

I am a co-sponsor of legislation designed to encourage the development of alternative and sustainable energy. H.R. 550 extends the investment tax credit to solar energy property and qualified fuel cell property, and H.R. 1772 provides tax credits for the installation of wind energy property.

Taxpayers for Common Sense named me a "Treasury Guardian" for my work against environmentally-harmful government spending and corporate welfare.

I am a member of the Congressional Green Scissors Coalition, a bipartisan caucus devoted to ending taxpayer subsidies of projects that harm the environment for the benefit of special interests.

Individuals, businesses, localities, and states must be free to negotiate environmental standards. Those who depend on the land for their health and livelihood have the greatest incentive to be responsible stewards.”

As for gas prices, Ron Paul wrote an article in May 2006 outlining his views. In short, he believes the U.S. should get out of Iraq and stop threatening Iran. Paul pointed out that before we went into Iraq, crude oil was about $30 a barrel. Now, it hovers in the $90 a barrel range and has peaked over $100 a barrel in recent months.

Paul also calls for tighter control of the currency by the Federal Reserve Bank to control inflation.

The article, along with more of Ron Paul’s essays can be found at

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/855/what-congress-can-do-about-soaring-gas-prices/

and his official campaign website is

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

This Week: Presidential Candidates Views...

...on Energy and the Environment.

Ron Paul – Monday
Mike Huckabee – Tuesday
John McCain – Wednesday
Barack Obama – Thursday
Hillary Clinton – Friday

Floating Houses

Dutch Architects are building houses that float - a truly organic and unique solution for building on waterfronts. Building green means creatively responding to the environment you're in. This is way creative.

Check it out.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18480769