On Tuesday night, while polar ice caps melted, lakes in Siberia bubbled with methane and Mount Hood continued to lose its glaciers, Congressman Peter DeFazio and former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury discussed the urgency of stopping global warming and presented their views on capping carbon emissions in front of 150 constituents at Cozmic Pizza in Eugene.
The speech was part of the Oregon Bus Project’s Brewhaha series that, according to volunteer Alan Waxman, works to enfranchise ordinary people into the political process and spread knowledge about issues to voters.
“Things are happening rapidly, and we need to deal with climate change before it takes hold of us,” Bradbury said.
Bradbury, who was trained to give presentations on global warming by former Vice President Al Gore, spearheaded the discussion by delivering a slide show that illustrated the severe effects of greenhouse gases in Oregon.
DeFazio gave a legislative perspective on how the change in leadership in the presidency will give Oregon and the U.S. a new edge on energy and natural resource conservation.
“The few Republican outliers that exist in Congress are virtually powerless against the actions we are taking to stop global warming,” DeFazio said. “Bush is gone, thank goodness, and Obama already has made it clear that he has a new attitude.”
DeFazio raised his many concerns about cap-and-trade programs and warned the audience about the potential for Wall Street executives to manage carbon credits unsuccessfully. By taking carbon credits, which could be bought for cheap, and inflating the prices through a multiple trade process, executives would make superfluous amounts of money.
“I will begin by saying cap-and-trade legislation has failed miserably in Congress,” he said. “In addition, the last thing I want to do is give Wall Street another way to make money on something that is so critical to the survival of our planet just to find out they screwed it up. “
Bradbury, who is not entirely opposed to cap-and-trade initiatives, said DeFazio’s caution about cap and trade should be considered when making decisions about how to approach the issue of carbon control.
Bradbury and DeFazio agree that a national carbon reduction program won’t be strong enough to stop global warming if there is not an international consensus that something needs to change.
“China builds two new coal power plants a week,” DeFazio said. “Even if the U.S. didn’t emit any carbon within the next 20 years, China would easily cancel our conservation efforts. It is essential that we don’t let China and North and South Korea bow out of the Kyoto protocol anymore.”
In addition to the commentary from Bradbury and DeFazio, time was also allotted for audience questions and a raffle to raise money for the bus project. Connor Allen, a University senior and political science major, received an award for being this year’s most dedicated volunteer.
“This has probably been the best political experience I could have had,” Allen said. “I wrote a budget and fundraising plan for the bus project as an intern. It has become the catapult for my resume, and at the same time, I feel good about what I am doing for the state of Oregon.”
The meeting concluded with one final audience question that was unsuccessful at quelling rumors over whether or not Bradbury and DeFazio are going to run for governor in the 2010 election. Bradbury said he was strongly considering it, while DeFazio diverted the question.
“Don’t be surprised if you see me campaigning in 2010,” Bradbury said.