Oil, climate issues connected to global security

Oil, climate issues connected to global security, college speakers say

by Cindy Hadish
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
February 8, 2007

Feb. 8--As lofty as the goals may seem, Iowans can play a concrete role in limiting U.S. oil dependency and reducing global warming.

Michael Kraig, director of policy analysis and dialogue at the Stanley Foundation in Muscatine, and David Tuft, campaign director for the Natural Resources Defense Council's Climate Center in Washington, D.C., brought that message to Iowa college campuses this week.

The two spoke at Cornell College in Mount Vernon and the University of Iowa, among other stops, as part of an energy security speaking tour sponsored by Americans for Informed Democracy.

Kraig, who has traveled to the Middle East in his post with the non-partisan Stanley Foundation, said oil dependency and global warming are intertwined with international security issues.

For environmental reasons, the United States should wean itself off oil, he said, but simply pulling the plug on Middle East oil would cause "instant social instability and chaos" throughout those countries.

Countries dependent on an oil economy would undergo mass unemployment, one of the cores of terrorist movements, Kraig said.

Iowans can do their part to vet presidential candidates who understand the need for openness and for the Middle East to transition to economic diversification, he said.

"It's the same argument as when Nixon went to China," Kraig said.

"It's Nixon goes to China for the 21st century."

Tuft, responsible for the Climate Center's public affairs advocacy and outreach, said Iowans can do the same vetting with candidates' positions on global warming.

Most politicians agree that global warming is an issue for Americans, but candidates need specific solutions to address the problem, he said.

To reduce global warming pollution to levels that will prevent the most serious climate impact, the United States needs to cut its emissions by 60 percent to 80 percent by 2050, Tuft said.

The center notes legislative bills should include the following to reach those goals:

--A long-term declining cap on emissions to create a clear path for long-term energy investments;

--Market-based flexibility to meet emission reduction targets cost-effectively;

--Performance standards and targeted incentives to speed use of efficiency, renewable energy and low-carbon technologies in power, vehicle and building sectors;

--Protection for consumers and adversely affected communities using revenues from pollution allowances to provide assistance to low-income households and labor communities.

-----

To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazetteonline.com .

Copyright (c) 2007, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa