My Friend Al Gore Speaks Again!

I raised a couple eyebrows when, back in July, I wrote that Al Gore had endorsed my campaign for Congress.

Well, not my campaign exactly, but he had in fact laid out and endorsed a plan for moving quickly toward a renewable energy economy – with 100% of our electricity from renewable energy within 10 years – that was remarkably similar to the central focus of my campaign. (A position that has still not been taken, regrettably, by the incumbent I ran against, Chris Van Hollen.)

Four months later, Al Gore has done it again. This Sunday in the New York Times, Mr. Gore laid out a further development of his vision.  And once again, it looks remarkably like what I was saying at houseparties and Rotary Club meetings across the district these past several months: an answer to global warming that is also an answer to our energy and economic crises.

Massive conversion to renewable energy, a nationwide program of conservation including insulation/retrofitting of homes for maximum energy efficiency, and pushing Detroit to convert to building electric cars and plug-in hybrids are three of the his Gore’s program planks, as they were three of the four on which I campaigned. He also made a cap on carbon emissions another central plank, and the question is whether we will get an ineffective cap and trade system, or a strong cap and dividend system – the latter being the system I advocated for, as do most other global warming advocacy groups. (Mr. Van Hollen is co-sponsor of a cap and trade bill.)

It is also great to see the former Vice-President and Nobel Prize winner dismiss “clean coal” as a “cynical and self interested illusion.” I can’t wait to hear the Democrats now controlling our government start echoing that reality.

There are a few not insignificant problems with Mr. Gore’s program.  One is that he makes no mention at all of mass transit, which must be a crucial ingredient of any major movement away from a fossil fuel-based society.

An even more important problem is his sole focus on large, (inevitably) corporate-controlled renewable energy projects.  Solar is good, but generating that solar power locally is far more effective and efficient than generating it at large plants in the southwest and then buzzing it across the country.  As with everything else in the age of global warming, going local must also become a fundamental guiding principle in energy generation.  (Generating more energy locally will also mitigate some of the need to rebuild our energy transmission grid, the fifth of Mr. Gore’s program planks.)

Even with these problems, however, Mr. Gore’s renewed challenge is far closer to what we urgently need to do than any of the plans currently in discussion by our newly elected (or re-elected) leaders.  It needs to be urgently considered.

One final and all-important note. Virtually everyone has caught on to the political wisdom of calling this a “Green New Deal” or an “Apollo project,” or some other reference to indicate the significance of what we must do. (I myself have always said that the conversion to a renewable energy economy needs to be our generation’s New Deal, Marshall Plan and Apollo Project all rolled into one.)

But using the rhetoric and actually marshalling the resources to get the job done are two entirely different things. The money that our new administration and Congress are willing to put into this effort needs to match the rhetoric.

Bear in mind that we are currently spending roughly $150 billion a year in Iraq. Our military expenditures for 2007 were estimated at $625 billion, and this fall’s Wall St. bailout package, while still growing, started out at $700 billion. Any real attempt to convert to a renewable energy economy must come with dollar figures along those lines. If it’s only a fraction of those, you’ll know the people offering it aren’t really serious.

To read Al Gore’s op-ed from Sunday’s New York Times, click here.

Letter from a young supporter

As a first time candidate, I find it difficult to know what to say. (And for those of you who know me, you know how unusual that is!)

A thousand different thoughts are running through my mind, and even if I could figure out the select few to say in “debriefing” this campaign, I know this is not the time. Our nation is in a moment of great excitement and hope right now (not to mention exhaustion), and analysis can wait until later.

Mostly, though, I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who contributed to this campaign – with your time, your talents, your money, your energy and your enthusiasm.  You don’t see those things in a number at the end of the day, but it’s what made this campaign real, fulfilling and alive. Hundreds of people joined to help our campaign, and collectively we reached out to thousands more.  And against ridiculous odds we were able to break through the mainstream media’s “blackout,” raise new issues, get the incumbent’s attention in a major way, and garner almost 6,000 votes. (Probably more than 6,000, once the absentee ballots are counted.) Those of you who know politics and the electoral system will realize just how significant an accomplishment that is for a first time, third party candidate. And what a foundation it is to build on for the future. There was no “losing” in this campaign.

All of that work and time and energy is based on hope, of course, and the message that we put out (and will likely put out again in 2010 – stay tuned!), is immensely appealing to people, once we can break though all the barriers to reach them. Turning away from militarism and mindless, casino-style capitalism while embracing a monumental green energy revolution is and will continue to be the only path forward to create a world worthy of our children (heck, and ourselves). The work we did in this race has brought us a little bit closer to that future.

That same level of effort and involvement is what we’ll continue to need to make that vision of the future into a reality, even with an Obama Administration. As the President-elect himself said, his victory on Tuesday is not itself the change we are looking for, but just the chance for a change. And, as it has been throughout our history, the only way to take advantage of this opportunity for change is to continue working just as hard or harder in the coming year as we did in this past one.  Ultimately it is people who change history, not Presidents (or members of Congress).

So that’s where I’ll leave it for now, and once again with my profound thanks and gratitude to all of you.

Oh, and the letter – I received this in the campaign mailbox the morning after the election, and it rings of the promise that has animated this campaign and which will carry us forward.  It is for you too:

“Dear Mr. Clark -

I found out about you five days ago and decided to check out your website because I support the Green Party. What really got my attention was how you disagree with Congressman Van Hollen on a lot of things, like ending the Iraq War (something that I agree with.) Even if you don’t win this year, I hope you run in 2010 and I would like to contribute to your campaign.

By the way, I’m 12 years old.

-Jake Baskin
Chevy Chase, MD”

With warm wishes and renewed energy for a better tomorrow,

Gordon Clark

We Need a Green New Deal, Now

The core of this campaign for Congress has been from its inception the urgent need to transform our nation from a fossil fuel-based economy to a renewable energy economy – a strategic initiative that would at once address the energy crisis, the economic crisis, and the climate crisis of global warming.

We need this on such a level, and so urgently, that I refer to it as this generation’s New Deal, Marshall Plan and Apollo Project all rolled into one.

I am especially delighted to report that I am far from the only one or the first, to think this. There are several current books out on the topic by Michael Brune, Van Jones, and and even The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, of all people.  And the idea of a “Green New Deal,” has struck a chord with many.  It’s an idea that’s powerfully relevant now that our government has started discussion of yet another economic stimulus package.

Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow and noted author of such books as The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies (New Society, 2003, 2005) has written powerfully on the urgency of this moment, and what we need.  His short commentary is below, and can also be read at
http://energybulletin.net/node/46934

“Conversations at the Bioneers conference last weekend (and by e-mail for many days now) have been dominated by a single theme: There is immediate need for a coherent policy with which the new US administration can deal with both the financial crash and the energy transition. Instead of propping up failing financial institutions, the new president must inject investment into the real economy by supporting wide-ranging but tightly coordinated projects to create far more renewable energy generation capacity, build railroads and public transport facilities, insulate millions of homes while providing alternative heat sources, and re-configure the national food system to dramatically reduce and soon eliminate the need for fossil fuels.

Clearly the next administration will have to do something dramatic to stop the hemorrhaging of the economy. Why a Green New Deal and not some other kind of stimulus package? Is this just the demand of a single constituency, one that will have to be weighed against and balanced with the needs of business, national defense, the struggling middle class, and of course, the bankers?

The answer to that question must be clear and unequivocal: This recession or depression is appearing at the exact historical moment when action to end our dependence on fossil fuels is required in order to avert the chaotic collapse of the entire human enterprise. Peak Oil and Climate Change present threats and imperatives of a scale unprecedented in human history. By taking up these imperatives through a de-carbonized retrofit of the nation’s (and ultimately the world’s) transport, food, and manufacturing systems, policy makers can address a number of crises simultaneously—environmental decline, resource depletion, geopolitical competition for control of energy, unemployment, balance of trade deficits, malnutrition and food-related health problems, and more.

If we (meaning, ultimately, the human species) cannot agree upon and undertake this course of action, then we will have lost what is almost certainly our last chance for collective survival. More policies will be required, such as ones to stabilize and reduce population and to rework the economic system so that it operates on a steady-state rather than a continuous growth paradigm. But the rescue process must begin with a plan to get society off of fossil fuels.

The plan must be comprehensive and compelling so that it can be sold first to the administration, and then to the American people. Soon, public education on a massive scale will be required to help ordinary citizens understand what is at stake and how sacrifices undertaken now can help build a better world later.

The plan must not be merely a wish-list of unrelated good ideas, but a prioritized, staged program with hard but realistic targets and adequate funding.

Now is the time to be formulating the elements of the plan, so that it can be formally presented immediately following the election. Now is also the time to be gathering input from energy, food, and climate leaders.

The moment may for action may be soon and brief. This morning Ben Bernanke called for a new economic stimulus package, and there are indications that such a package may be cobbled together prior to the change of administrations, hopefully with the President-Elect team’s input.

On Anniversaries, Happy and Otherwise

October 7 is a special and important date for me, but like so much else in our world these days it’s neither simple nor straightforward.

October 7 is the date in 2000 that I married my long time friend and partner, Emily Piccirillo.

Regrettably, just one year later, October 7, 2001 is the date that our nation started the war in Afghanistan, and began a bloody and seemingly endless war against the amorphous threat called “terrorism.” It was a hell of a first anniversary. And it was damn close to October 7 in 2002, just a couple days after our 2nd anniversary, that Congress voted to give George Bush authority to start the moral, financial and foreign policy catastrophe that is the war in Iraq. So as I say, October 7 is a date that I have very mixed feelings about.

As we face an increasingly perilous world, though, I do come back, again and again, to the significance of our relationships. As Emily wished me a happy anniversary this morning, I was filled first with embarrassment (okay, I’ll admit it – in the craziness of a political campaign I actually forgot about our anniversary for the first time), but then a very quiet joy. Emily has been with me through thick and thin for 16 years now (yes, it took us awhile to get around to getting married), and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Through good times and bad, through delightful wine dinners and hard fought political struggle (how many have a partner who would risk arrest with you at a nonviolent anti-war action?!), they have been the best 16 years of my life.

So for all the sorrow, hardship and craziness in the world, here’s to you Emily, the love of my life – and may we have many more years together. As the blues song says, it’s great to have someone to scratch your back.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth…

With all eyes focused on the spiraling economic crisis for the past several weeks, little attention has been paid to two environmental bombshells, pieces of news that once again point to global warming as the most dire and urgent threat we face – even in the face of the current financial meltdown, and that’s saying something.

The Independent 9/23/08: “Millions of tons of methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide, are being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed. Massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats. Scientists believe that sudden releases of underground methane in the past have been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and the mass extinction of species. In the past few days, the researchers have seen areas of sea foaming with gas bubbling up through ‘methane chimneys’ rising from the sea floor. They believe that the sub-sea layer of permafrost, which has acted like a ‘lid’ to prevent the gas from escaping, has melted away to allow methane to rise from underground deposits formed before the last ice age.”

Associated Press 9/26/08: “The world pumped up its pollution of carbon dioxide last year, setting a course that could push beyond IPCC’s projected worst-case scenario, international researchers said Thursday. Carbon dioxide jumped 3 percent from 2006 to 2007, an amount that exceeds the most dire outlook for emissions from burning coal and oil and related activities. Meanwhile, forests and oceans, which suck up carbon dioxide, are doing so at lower rates than in the 20th century.”

The Washington Post wrote about the second finding in a fine, strongly worded editorial today, “Earth Aboil.”  Yet even while they use words like “dire” and “urgency” and write that our federal government must “change its ways” and lead the effort to confront global warming, they have consistently refused to cover any candidates for Congress, including yours truly, who have made the fight against global warming a central focus of their campaign.  If the Post actually takes its own warnings seriously, why can’t they provide any coverage at all for Congressional candidates who do the same?  Does Planet Earth care whether the candidates who are calling for urgent action on this dire threat are Republican, Democrat, Green or Independent?

The inability of mainstream media to inject this most vital of issues into the election debate is one of the reasons so little is happening in Washington.  We will continue to wage that battle, regardless, and bring the message of a clean, renewable energy economy to the voters in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District.  When reading information like this, though, it’s hard not to conclude that we are running out of time.

Please join our campaign, and help us make this happen – now!

Let us eat what??

You hear the most amazing things sometimes, just hanging out there in the mainstream media for anyone paying attention.

On my way to speak to a class at American University yesterday, I heard two whoppers right next to each other, pieces of information so mind-blowing I almost had to pull over to collect myself.

The first regarded Sen. Ted Stevens, the long-time (and kinda batty – this is the guy who thinks the internet is “a series of tubes”) senator from Alaska who is famous for steering appropriations (such as money for the “bridge to nowhere”) to his state.  He is currently under indictment by the U.S. Justice Department for tax evasion and corruption.  The news bit?  The Justice Department was going to allow Sen. Stevens to skip a few days of his corruption trial… so he could work on the Wall St. bailout bill.

Do they even get the supreme irony?

Probably not, because they followed up by saying that the jury would not be told where Sen. Stevens was on his “absentee days,” so he could not cultivate sympathy from the jurors for his selfless work to save the nation’s financial system.  Oh brother.

The second item came shortly after in a segment with economists talking about that very bailout bill now being rushed through Congress.  It seems that even most of the economists who are saying we need this $700 billion monstrosity aren’t terribly sure it’s going to work, and are predicting hard times ahead either way.  One in particular noted, without a trace of humor in his voice, that if you didn’t want to have to work past age 65, you “should probably start getting used to eating beans and cornbread now.”  God only knows what’s going to happen to those who are still 30 or 40 years away from their presumed retirement.

So that’s our future? Eating beans until we die?  It’s amazing enough that Congress is rushing to pass the overwhelmingly largest bailout in U.S. history in less time than they take to declare national cabbage month.  And all because Treasury Secretary Paulson, a former Goldman Sachs employee, and his boss President Bush, tell them they “have to” to prevent “immediate” financial collapse.  Really?  It can’t take another week or two to figure out he best course of action?  And once again, Congress is taking the word of the guy who told them we “had” to go into Iraq, because they absolutely and without question had all these weapons of mass destruction?  What is it they say about “fool me twice?”

Whether or not this bill will do anything to restore sanity to our financial industry, let alone re-establish the strong regulations and laws necessary to keep yet another crisis from emerging – regulations and laws that were demolished one by one of the past 20 years – remains to be seen.  Protections and help for homeowners facing foreclosure?  Who knows.  But this President comes demanding $700 billion of our money to help out his Wall St. cronies, and this Congress cannot move fast enough.

So – do you prefer black, kidney or pinto?

Hello, Gaithersburg!

Just a quick note here to thank the residents, employees and volunteers of Gaithersburg that made their “Celebrate Gaithersburg” festival such a joy for the Clark for Congress campaign to be at yesterday.

It didn’t hurt to have almost perfect fall weather, but everything else about the event was thoroughly enjoyable, from the moment we arrived and were quickly and efficiently directed to our well-marked table area (and nearby parking!), to the pint of tasty homebrew my campaign manager and I quaffed at Growler’s at the end of the day.  Olde Towne Gaithersburg is laid out near a central park dominated by a beautiful old mansion, and the festival featured some great music, a “Green Zone” where environmental responsibility was preached (we especially appreciated that), a World Market, and dozens and dozens of local craftspeople, advocacy groups, delicious food stands, a petting zoo and even acrobat shows for the kids.  And all of it impeccably well-organized.

Even more impressive was the friendliness and openness of the many, many people who attended, a friendliness which rivaled even that of the legendarily friendly Takoma Park.  (Watch out TP, they’re sneaking up on you!)  In particular we were delighted by the interest shown by the large number of Hispanic-speaking residents who came up to our booth, especially after we posted a sign which read “Ningun ser humanos ilegal” – “No human being is illegal,” the slogan of the immigrants rights movement.  It’s amazing how people respond if you actually try to reach out to them – something we are finding in our campaign throughout the 8th district.

So for any local resident who hasn’t been before, I heartily recommend the “Celeberate Gaithersburg” festival the next time it comes around.  And thanks again to the many staff and volunteers who made it such an exceptional day – you rock!

Failing Banks, or a Failing Government?

The financial news for the past several days has been one bombshell after another.

Lehman Brothers, one of the world’s largest investment banks, files for bankruptcy.

Another celebrated investment banking firm, Merrill Lynch, merges with Bank of America to forestall its own financial crisis.

AIG, the nation’s largest insurance company, tetters on the edge of insolvency.

And all this only a week after the government had to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation’s two immense, quasi-private mortgage companies, before they failed.

How did this all happen – and where will it all end?

Much of it started with the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and the larger foreclosure crisis – with much of that brought on by lending practices so lax and opportunistic they bordered on a industry-wide criminal conspiracy. This then triggered a crisis in investment firms that used this house of cards to extract ever more money for themselves, combining and recombining (and reselling) suspect loans and debts as “derivatives,” willfully oblivious to the fact that no matter how many times crummy loans are recombined into clever packages, they’re still crummy loans. Similar fanciful transactions have been spreading throughout other parts of the financial system, always with a drive to make ever greater profits, regardless of the risk involved and the fact that none of it added anything of real value to the economy.

In a truly Alice-in-Wonderland turn, AIG even tried to stay afloat recently by loaning itself money. And you thought all this craziness ended with the Enron debacle?

Everyone is now blaming the greed of these various firms and their managers and employees for this crisis. And without question that plays a part. But where, one must ask, has our government been all this time? Isn’t it the job of the government to watch over our markets, to protect investors, to prevent greed from running rampant and gutting our economy?

Well it should be. But our govenrment has spent the past 25+ years dismantling the system of prudent laws and regulations inacted after the Great Depression – starting in 1980, when the Democratic-controlled Congress repealed the federal law against usury, or exorbitant interest rates. It’s been downhill ever since, as our government has essentially turned over the financial henhouse to the foxes.

And how much of this government malfeasance, in turn, can be traced to the millions of dollars in contributions that politicians of both parties have received from the very financial institutions that are now crumbling before our eyes? Whose greed is it that’s truly to blame for this crisis?

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers is so far the only case where the government has allowed a firm to fail. In all the other cases, the government has come to the rescue with taxpayer money. While such action might make some sense to preserve our financial system, one also has to ask what it is we’re preserving. For in the current system our government is now struggling to save, immense and unjustifiable profit is privatized, while even larger losses are socialized – with you and me picking up the tab.

Indeed, where does it all end?

While we try to deal with the immediate fallout, one thing is clear. If our financial system is ever to recover, we need to return, and quickly, to the vigorous and vigilantly enforced laws and regulations which used to keep greed in check.

And electing politicians who refuse to take money from the very institutions they are supposed to be watching over would be a great place to start.

Remembering 9-11, and moving from war to peace

Today is the 7th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, a dark moment in both U.S. and world history. It shall always be remembered as a day when thousands of innocents were killed, and a day when thousands more – even millions – joined together in heroic and collective sacrifice.

Our government’s response to those terrible attacks, however, has been 7 years of shame, division, death and destruction. Two major wars. Hundreds of thousands killed, even more wounded. Five million refugees. Trillions of dollars squandered and stolen. Civil liberties assaulted. The rule of law under siege.

And in all this, the true threats to our society and our planet – concurrent energy, economic and climate crises – have been either ignored or exacerbated. On this 7th anniversary of 9-11, we are even further from peace, prosperity ans security than we were the day after it. We are going in the wrong direction.

This campaign is about moving in a very different direction, on all these fronts. From a disastrous fossil fuel economy to a clean, safe, renewable energy economy. From systematic environmental destruction to loving stewardship and sustainability. From war and war preparation to peace-making, and peace.

Our campaign for Congress is heading into the homestretch now, and gathering momentum – and we couldn’t do it without you. As we reflect on this terrible holiday, I want to thank you for everything you’ve done to help turn our nation in a new direction, and for everything you’ve yet to do.

Gordon Clark

Drill, Baby, Drill and “God’s Plan” in Iraq

For those of us interested in a positive future for our nation and our world – indeed, for any future at all – the Republican convention was disturbing for any number of reasons. Two signature moments, however, were “Drill, Baby, Drill” and the revelations about Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s views on foreign policy.

“Drill, Baby, Drill” was first uttered during a speech by Michael Steele, former Maryland Lt. Governor and current head of GOPAC (Newt Gingrich’s political action committee). It was enthusiastically picked up by the convention delegates, who chanted it frequently during the rest of the convention. It is hard to imagine a more glaringly callous disregard for the future of our planet, and therefore the future of all life including us, than to joyously call for ever more drilling for oil. For these folks, it seems, global warming is not only a giant hoax, it’s a huge joke as well.

Alaska Governor Palin’s views on foreign policy were a little better hidden at the convention, but have emerged quickly enough over the internet. And to all appearances she is right in line with George W. Bush’s messianic view of the world. Speaking recently in front of her former church, the Wasilla Assembly of God, Ms. Palin exclaimed that “our national leaders are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for,” she added, “that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”

Let’s be clear about two things here. First, President Bush and the rest of our national leaders have not been sending U.S. soldiers on a task from God. They have dishonored their country, our military, and their oath to the Constitution by sending our soldiers into harm’s way in a war based on deception and lies.

And second, there is no such thing as “God’s plan” for this war, or for any war. God does not support or participate in human wars. If God does anything in the face of the immense and tragic human folly that is war, it is to weep.

As extreme as these statements are, though, it is sobering to realize that Democrats generally play right along with the central themes. So when Mr. Bush focused his weekly radio address on the “need” for offshore oil drilling earlier this summer, the Democratic response – delivered by my opponent in this race, Chris Van Hollen – began with the words “Let me be clear, Democrats support more drilling.” Not quite as in-your-face as “drill, baby, drill,” perhaps, but talk about blowing an opportunity to define a new energy future for our country, and to distinguish yourself from the opposition. (And you just watch, as the Democratically controlled Congress is about to capitulate on off-shore drilling.)

With regard to Iraq, it was disheartening to hear the Democrats’ standard bearer, Barack Obama, say during an interview with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly that the “surge” in Iraq has “succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.” That will no doubt be welcome news to the relatives of the million plus Iraqis who have died during our occupation, or to the 4-5 million Iraqi refugees created during the past five years. Sen. Obama went on to state that we must continue to “go after” Al Qaeda, the Taliban and “a host of networks” – he is in favor of expanding the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan – and the he would “never” take the military option off the table with respect to Iran.

The sad truth is that Barack and the vast majority of Democrats are simply incapable of formulating, articulating or defending a fundamentally different foreign policy for our country, or of presenting a narrative to the American public that does not focus on war as central to our policy and our national self-image. This campaign will endeavor to do all of those things.

Meanwhile, in the real world of war, there has been a rash of civilian deaths in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned recent U.S. military operations in his country, and the Pakistani government filed a formal complaint over U.S. attacks in theirs – attacks, which in addition to killing innocent civilians, were also a gross violation of Pakistani sovereignty and international law.

In Iraq, U.S. “mistaken fire” killed 6 members of Iraqi’s security forces, including members of the “Awakening,” the Sunni fighters that we have paid and armed to fight with us, and some of whom are now quitting as a result. In the words of one of those who left, 18 year old Ali Younis, “we don’t feel safe working with the Awakening anymore because of the American forces.”

Sound like God’s plan to anyone?

For more on recent developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan, read our latest press release on our website (link in the upper right hand corner).