The environment
It’s God’s creation. On a campaign stop in Cottonwood, Idaho, Sr. Carrol Ann Wassmuth, who does forest management for 1,000 acres of forests at the monastery there, told us that she believes it’s our spiritual responsibility to be extremely conscientious when it comes to treating the environment, God’s gift to us. I agree. And my position paper on the environment reflects that, in spades.
Huron, Ohio, is on Lake Erie. The EPA’s Clean Water Act was, in part, enacted because of how polluted Lake Erie had become. So during my time there, I reported on a number environmental issues around the lake. For instance, while I was there Old Woman Creek became the first fresh water estuarine sanctuary designated for preservation in the United States. Also, to stem some of the water pollution, the EPA was mandating Huron build two new, and quite expensive, water treatment facilities that would send sewer bills skyrocketing. And, as another example, I reported on a public meeting (see adjacent article) where an official from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources explained the agency was broadening its reach to help deal with such issues as shoreline erosion, water quality, environmentally sensitive areas, general development…
Alternative energy
Our energy platform calls for a tremendously dramatic shift to alternative energy, quick! According to many scientists, we stand at the precipice of catastrophic climate change. I believe Americans need to sacrifice tremendously when it comes to energy use, and in tandem, we need to ramp up renewables by a factor of 10, or more. [Incidentally, Americans sacrificed tremendously for the war efforts during World War II. And this is, well, a very real ‘war on the environment.]
I have researched and written about a wide variety of alternative energy: wind, geothermal, wave action, solar… In fact, I wrote the following article about solar energy way back in 1982 when people were first learning about the concept.
