Focus the Nation organized a “national teach-in on global warming solutions for America—creating a dialogue at over a thousand colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools, places of worship, civic organizations and businesses, and directly engaging millions of students and citizens with the nation’s decision-makers. Focus the Nation will culminate January 31st, 2008 in simultaneous educational symposia held across the country. Their intent is to move America beyond fatalism to a determination to face up to this civilizational challenge, the challenge of our generation.” See www.focusthenation.org for more details.

Discussion on Environmental Frameworks for Policymakers
Presented at The University of Southern Maine, Gorham
Focus The Nation Conference
1/31/08 - 11:00 AM

I have been invited here today to share with you my thoughts on the importance of integrating and elevating Environmental Policy within the policies of the United States. I will be sharing with you three sets of thought: First, an introduction to the importance of environmental policy to our future, with emphasis on the importance it has in our economy. Second: I will outline how environmental policy should integrate with all other policy areas. Third, I will share some policy ideas that will help us set a stable and sustainable course for our economy and our environment. Finally I will open the floor to questions and general discussion.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Regardless of belief, this we can all agree upon: We all share planet earth. A seamless web of life connects us; whether we call it science or we call it faith, love or chance does not matter. The fundamental truth is that our fates are connected no matter what course we choose. Our future quality of life is in jeopardy because of the dramatic implications of our economic choices, especially our choice to depend on fossil fuels and the consequential problem of global warming. It is up to us to choose our current response to the challenges at our doorstep wisely. The quality of our future lies in the balance.

As we consider our environmental policies we must keep in mind the necessities of working within the capacities of our environment and the boundaries of commonsense. We have made a few wrong turns. We must retrace our steps to set a new course to strengthen our national community. We must begin anew our journey toward a sustainable future, with accurate direction, but we have lost time. We can no longer wait for those who would distract us and make us too late. Certainly there are those who intend to distract us. For example, in 2006 Exxon funneled over $2.1 million to 41 groups that were identified by Greenpeace as misleading the public on global warming science or policy. Such actions have been commonplace, and we have allowed our policies to be victims of false doubt. This can happen no longer. We must prepare a world for our children, for all those we care about, that is what we want for them. We must not stumble into a tomorrow that guarantees suffering around the globe.

Through environmental stewardship; as a people we must work throughout all policy areas to strengthen the environmental foundation of society. We must reclaim lost ground by healing the environmental abuses of the past. We must invest in a healthy environment as the bedrock of a sustainable economy, develop economic opportunity through environmental leadership, partner with educators to grow a new paradigm of environmental understanding; support the health of our people; strengthen a foreign policy that leads through global environmental stewardship, and defend ourselves against any abuse of the global environment upon which we and our children depend. We deserve no less.

Our environment is the great steward that provides for the miracle of our human existence on earth. Environmental Policy must protect and promote the fundamental rights of people to build their lives upon a healthy environment, a life-giving foundation. A national commitment to protect the common interests of our people requires a focused and proactive approach to stewarding the environment and dealing with the acute environmental issues before us.

Environmental Policy is the foundational bedrock for the rest of society! Policy must facilitate our people living in environments - both natural and man made - that are supported and nurtured by the actions of our people and the laws and constructs of our government woven throughout it. Ultimately, the relationship between all other areas of policy and the environment should be seen as mutually beneficial, not as adversarial. Wise environmental practice strengthens the environment; in turn the environment provides a strong, indispensable foundation to society.

Consider these demonstrative facts from the EPA, that by the year 2010 it is estimated that the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 will prevent:

— 23,000 Americans from dying prematurely.
– 1.7 million incidences of asthma.
– 67,000 incidences of chronic and acute bronchitis.
– 4.1 million fewer lost workdays.
– For those costs that can be quantified the EPA estimates that the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 will generate $110 Billion Dollars in savings by 2010 while costing $27 Billion Dollars to implement.
– Those costs and benefits that cannot be quantified, needless human suffering averted are beyond any value we can calculate.

All of these benefits were the result of one set of amendments to one law, one set of policy decisions, underscoring the importance of environmental policy. Our environment is the foundation upon which the rest of society is dependent!

We are a wealthy nation blessed with an abundant and beautiful natural environment. Too often though, we have chosen expediency over environmental responsibility; we have hurt the common good and undercut our future environmental and economic security every time we have done so. We must support the interdependence of the environment and our collective wellbeing. The failure of our current environmental policy to support this interdependence works against the common good and is intolerable for any nation that seeks to shape its own future and be a true leader in the world.

Consider the costs of our environmental policy status quo vs. opportunities before us:

– The cost of global warming, energy price instability, volatile markets, and the awful choices that have beset the most economically vulnerable of our citizens this winter vs. the opportunity develop an energy stable economy by helping every home owner and municipality to generate some of their own clean energy. Oil is expensive. According to the US Dept of energy, oil price spikes from 1979 to 2000 cost the US economy about seven trillion dollars. This is almost as much as we spent on National Defense over the same period. Each price spike in the last 3 decades was followed by an economic recession. In comparison, one large windmill with capacity to provide electricity for 500 homes costs about $1.5 Million Dollars. Seven trillion dollars builds a lot of windmills.

– The cost of shipping our food from distant regions and countries, often dependent on factory farming vs. the opportunity to support local agriculture and the quality jobs and food it produces.

– The cost of “cheap” goods imported to our country produced with underpaid and uncared for labor through environmentally damaging practices vs. developing commercial agreements that require fair labor and green certification requirements.

– The cost of the 14 remaining superfund toxic waste sites in Maine vs. the opportunity to build an economy that does not depend on environmental damage in order to be “profitable.”

– The cost of land fills vs. the opportunities that recycling and green plans for our products offer our economy.

– The cost of environmental ignorance vs. the wisdom and opportunities that environmental education will lead to.

– The cost in lives and money of a war in Iraq waged in part for the control of the flow of oil vs. the opportunity to add to the security of the world through the development of green technology in a green revolution.

We stand at the beginning of the next great economic revolution, the green revolution, a revolution that will put environmental necessities and economic methods in balance. The green evolution will be built upon clean and renewable energy, greater efficiency, green practices and positive international relations. It will be fueled primarily by the harnessing of the clean and reliable power of the sun, wind, tides, rivers, and the geothermal heat of the earth’s core to build an energy stable society.

No other energy choices support the common good as well. This revolution has begun. The technology needed to make it happen has existed for years and is improving with each passing month. The cost of oil has finally made these largely unsubsidized technologies competitive in the open market.

The question is whether we will lead these efforts or if we will stand back and watch other countries do so. As individual citizens and as a country we must decide to embrace the opportunities before us. The only other alternative is to maintain our dependency on fossil fuels, staying on course to a dead end for our people and for our economy. Consider all of benefits to the US economy from the Internet revolution- a similar opportunity is before us today.

A green revolution will build a foundation for our long-term economic health. All measurements of the economy’s performance must include environmental costs and benefits. In the long run we will generate more wealth, save resources, and build a hopeful environmental future, eliminating the environmental damage and wasteful activity that short term, profit–at–all–cost, business as usual often requires. This will lead to lower human, environmental, and financial costs leading to a stronger society.

Leading a green revolution necessitates international leadership. The most dangerous and consequential environmental issues are international in scope. Consider: global warming, the exploitation of diverse environments in the name of “good business” over fishing of the oceans, and worldwide deforestation. Acting responsibly in all of our international practices, parallel to the standards we set for ourselves at home through our own environmental laws, we can lead the world to an environmentally secure future.

Our environmental security needs - the very foundation of our lives - demand that we lead abroad to set strong international environmental standards. Failure to lead in this area will have significant, negative consequences across all policy areas. Our Foreign policy will be strained by a continual loss of moral authority, prestige, and growing resentment that the wealthiest nation in the world, the greatest consumer on the planet, refuses to help protect the global environment upon which all life depends. We must focus our efforts to build more effective relationships between Environmental Policy, foreign policy, and all other policy areas through a strong commitment to stewardship and environmental responsibility.

Americans understand the perils both seen and unseen that are currently the reality in their environments. People are concerned about cancer rates, ozone alerts, global warming, the quality of our drinking water and dozens of other environmental issues. They understand that the weakest among us, the very young and the very old are most vulnerable to poor environmental policies and they want to protect them. They cannot be insulated from toxic environments or adequately protected from the worldwide destructive potential of global warming. They want our government to meet its obligation to work with all citizens to help reclaim and manage a healthy environment. We must do so by integrating and elevating environmental policy with all other policy areas…

The remainder of Tom’s discussion covered how one might best integrate environmental policy with other policy areas. These details will be posted in the Environmental Frameworks section of the website.

Filed under Events. Date: January 31, 2008, 7:50 pm |

Tom gets a warm welcome upon his return home after the first week of campaigning.

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Filed under Snapshots. Date: January 29, 2008, 11:48 pm |

I drove back to Franklin County today to attend this month’s Franklin County Democratic Committee meeting.  My sister Ann accompanied me and we were warmly and respectfully received. Several people took our ballot petitions to gather signatures for us. During the meeting I gave an overview of my candidacy and answered questions for about 30 minutes.

Many thanks to Irv Faunce for his support and fairness in this process. It was very encouraging to see so many people who are active participants in their democracy. Special thanks to Ann as well, for making the drive a productive work session.

Filed under Tom's Journal. Date: January 27, 2008, 11:00 pm |

Before heading home to our weekly campaign meeting I spent the morning canvassing Rangeley. It is clear that many people here feel left behind by Washington. The price of gas and home heating oil are driving people over the economic edge. Our lack of a long-term energy policy has provided our citizens with no good choices as we face yet another oil price spike. This long-standing economic instability has to change if we really want to support the well being of our people.

Returning home to southern Maine from the northern, eastern, and western legs of our compass point announcement tour was a happy event. We had just completed our first full week of campaigning – which was very successful - and our campaign has begun to move from words to action. The girls were excited to see their Papa and it was wonderful to be home. Keeping a balance between the needs of home, of work and of the campaign will be a challenge in the weeks to come – what a great challenge to have. Tonight I am very grateful both for my family and the opportunities before us.

Filed under Tom's Journal. Date: January 26, 2008, 11:56 pm |

I enjoyed a full day of campaigning in Rangeley. I am learning quickly that there may be a strong core relation between running for office and eating too often! Rangeley is an amazing highland community with a spirit all it’s own. I found people warm, receptive and even enthusiastic. The best line of the day came from a stately older man who said, “Imagine what it would be like if we sent someone to Washington who we could actually talk to.” The statement was absent malicious for our elected officials. Rather, I heard it as the clear need to bridge the gap between regular folks and their government.

Filed under Tom's Journal. Date: January 25, 2008, 11:54 pm |