Democratic Candidates’ Debate Disappointing
90-Minute Debate Offered No Substance on Energy Independence or Global Warming
(Washington, DC) “Where were the questions about global warming and energy independence?”
SmartPower commented today that it was very puzzling that during Sunday’s Democratic Presidential Candidates’ Debate at Drake University in Iowa, not one question about global warming or energy independence was asked by the moderator, ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. SmartPower is the national non-profit marketing organization that is leading the creation of a robust market for clean energy and energy efficiency.
During the 90-minute debate, important subjects such as the war in Iraq and healthcare were debated. But according to Jesse Stanchak of Congressional Quarterly (www.cqpolitics.com), “Questions about the candidates’ records dominated much of the debate,” as opposed to addressing the important pressing issues of the day. It appeared that confrontation was encouraged while substantive debate was ignored. While there were no questions about energy independence or global warming, four of the eight candidates did voluntarily mention how important these issues are to America.
In a CBS News/New York Times Poll of April 20-24, 2007, 1,052 adults nationwide were asked, “Is using renewable energy sources to generate electricity mostly a good idea or a bad idea?” A remarkable number of people – 87% – thought that it was a good idea. Further, in that same poll, 75% of the American public were “willing to pay more for electricity if it were generated by renewable sources like solar or wind energy.”
“It is truly unacceptable that questions about clean energy, energy efficiency, and energy independence are not being asked in a major presidential candidates debate,” stated SmartPower president, Brian F. Keane. “A very strong majority of the US public embraces the idea that global warming is a real and serious problem and we are truly disappointed that this debate offered no substance on how we will deal with these important issues,” said Keane.
SmartPower will continue to comment on the statements of the presidential candidates in order to raise the profile of the debate on these important energy issues.
