Kerry to Debate Gingrich on Environment

[Dr Ron]

From Liberal Values:

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=1358

A Real Debate To Occur in April

One frustration of modern political campaigns is that the candidates are forced to speak in sound bites and avoid discussing the issues with much complexity. John Kerry, one of the more intelligent candidates to run from either party in recent years, was typically laughed at by the media for being too long-winded until he blew out George Bush in the debates. Newt Gingrich, regardless of what we might think of him, is one of the more intelligent and articulate Republicans who is interested in ideas.

Wouldn’t it be fascinating if we had candidates running with real ideas who could hold real debates rather than an exchange of sound bites? We will get a glimpse of what this would be like on April 10 when John Kerry and Newt Gingrich debate climate change and the environment. The debate is part of the Brademas Center exploratory series.

Here’s my suggestion: If the debate turns out to be a more serious look at the issues than the debates held by the Democrats and Republican candidates, scrap the primaries, make Kerry and Gingrich the candidates, and let them keep on debating until the election.

[karynnj]

1. I'll buy your suggestion - and this likely will be more serious

Given how I feel about one of the candidates, I'd risk Newt - cause I know Kerry can beat him.

[blm]

3. What are the chances Cspan will cover this?

.

[Dr Ron]

5. Does it matter for Republicans?

All the current and potential candidates look so bad that it doesn't really matter which one. If the logic of this post led to calling for Newt, it doesn't really matter. Of course my recommendation for Democratic nominee matters quite a bit. None of the current possibilities comes close.

[MBS]

2. I sure hope this will be taped somehow

. . .this comes at the time of the week when I don't have TV access.
thanks for the heads-up, Dr Ron. Sounds like something NOT to be missed, if at all possible.

[beachmom]

4. Maybe we should contact CSPAN

Doesn't somebody have a friend of a friend at CSPAN?

[Dr Ron]

6. Update

I added this quote from Kerry to the post:

"We need a real debate," Sen. Kerry said in a written statement. "It is time to stop debating fiction writers, oil executives and flat-earth politicians, and actually talk about how to address global climate change."

[Dr Ron]

7. Effects of Global Warming in the Southwest

This post from today at Liberal Values goes along well with the post on Kerry debating climate change:

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=1360


Report in Science Warns of Permanent Drought in Southwest United States

A report in the upcoming issue of Science warns that global warming could create a permanent drought in the southwest. The study reports that projections of anthropogenic (man-made) climate change conducted by nineteen different climate modeling groups show widespread agreement that Southwestern North America,and the subtropics in general, are heading toward a climate like that of the 1950’s droughts. From the abstract:

How anthropogenic climate change will impact hydroclimate in the arid regions of Southwestern North America has implications for the allocation of water resources and the course of regional development. Here we show that there is a broad consensus amongst climate models that this region will dry significantly in the 21st century and that the transition to a more arid climate should already be underway. If these models are correct, the levels of aridity of the recent multiyear drought, or the Dust Bowl and 1950s droughts, will, within the coming years to decades,become the new climatology of the American Southwest.

“Our study emphasizes the fact that global warming not only causes water shortage through early snow melt, which leads to significant water shortage in the summer over the Southwest, but it also aggregates the problem by reducing precipitation,” according to Mingfang Ting, Doherty Senior Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty and one of the study’s co-authors.

Other regions to be affected by this subtropical drying include southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and parts of South America.

[JI7]

8. i once read an article on Gingrich and his interest in digging fossils

dinosaur fossils.

it mentioned the conflict in the belief that the world was created just thousands of years ago with scientific evidence of dinosaurs exisiting hundreds of millions of years ago.

i can't remember what Gingrich said about that though.

i hope CSPAN covers this.

[Dr Ron]

9. Standard answer

They usually claim that God planted such evidence of a longer existence of the planet than claimed in the bible. It's all a test of our faith.

Not that I'm in any position to say what a supreme being would do, but personally I would think that if there was a being with the ability to create the earth, and if such being was going to throw in some extras, this is not what I'd expect. If the bible was literally true, why plant evidence that would lead those who study science to question its literal truth. If God was to plant evidence, it would make more sense to plant evidence supporting the bible. There are all sorts of creative ways to do that which would have ended an skepticism among scientists--perhaps something in our genetic code so that completing the human genone project would lead to a biblical message, or planting a huge monolisk on the moon (as in 2001) with the ten commandments.

[MBS]

12. believe it or not, he genuinely is interested in paleontology

and in animals, including (even especially, I think) , dinosaurs.

[MarjorieG]

10. Call me permanently paranoid about media..

With Kerry having bona-fides on the environment, an excellent debater, still concerns me that with building this movement, the media has an opportunity to score one for the Newt, a GOP, something they'd rather reflexively do. Think back to the prez debates second day stories, you'd think parity.

Newt is coming out with a conservation book, I believe, and I don't think he's flat earth on this.

We'll see how the media frames this, which is how the public hears about the issue and the peformances. Hope there is C-span.

[karynnj]

11. Given what you are saying, I don't think it should be a problem,

This could be a substanitive debate where various possible solutions become the focus of the debate. In the late 60s or early 70s, I attended a debate on economic issues where Galbraith and WF Buckley disscussed the issues of the day. I sgreed with Galbraith more than Buckley - but it was a great intellectual experience.

Newt will disappoint the loony right, if what you say is true. Kerry will disappoint the looniest part of the left. Given the hope, optimism and creative engangement of the business community and the environmental community implict in Kerry's solution, I can't see this debate having any downside. Kerry will likely move some moderate (or even true conservatives) behind some of his solutions. They NEED more people behind it to pass it. That is more important than politics.

If Newt is moderate and reasonable on this issue and is intending to use it as an issue, it is good he is debating Kerry now. The Republicans do have some historic credentials on the environment. It would be a strange turn of events if after Gore and Kerry make it a voting issue, a Republican manages to be seen as better on it. (McCain has credentials and Newt may be positioning himself to look like he has - I don't know his voting record. Bush 1 has more to point to than Clinton.) If that his his intent - the debate will at least get it into the open.

The biggest danger is that Kerry may anger some by not defending Clinton as great on this issue.

[fedupinBushcountry]

13. Stay tuned

JK has a blog post on Dkos this morning http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/8/7259/09964 and in his
Tip jar post he said this about the debate:

and if I can squeeze a few minutes in today I'll try to respond. As an aside: Tuesday -- I debate Newt Gingrich on climate change -- I think we're webcasting it so tune in.

by John Kerry on Sun Apr 08, 2007 at 04:39:18 AM PDT

[MBS]

14. debate to be broadcast LIVE on CSPAN 1 tomorrow 10 am

Tuesday , April 10, 10 am
CSPAN 1 cable channel and LIVE at www.c-span.org

I got this information through a CSPAN email alert. Keep an eye out for updates, as CSPAN has a way of changing things at the last minute. .

[wisteria]

15. Wow, I will be around to watch this. n/t

[beachmom]

16. Thanks. Kicking for more visability. DVR already set for stun! :)

Edited to add -- somebody should put up a liveblog diary at around 10 AM tomorrow on dailykos -- a lot of Kossaks may tune in and be interested. I will be unavailable tomorrow, but I think this is DailyKos Liveblog material.

[mloutre]

19. Oh, you mean like as in...

"Live-blogging the Kerry-Gingrich climate change debate"?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/10/6212/67705

Yeah, you're right, that probably wouldn't entirely suck.

:0)

[jillan]

17. I just posted this in GDP

It's front page, right on top of C-span's site :)

[mloutre]

18. Live-blogging this debate in real time starting at 10 am today

John Kerry and Newt Gingrich are debating the government's role in dealing with global climate change this morning at 10 am EDT.

The debate, hosted by New York University’s John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress, will take place in the Russell Senate Office Building and will be broadcast live by C-Span and simultaneously webcast at http://c-span.org .

Various progressive political posters will be giving the play-by-play and commenting on what they see and hear from Kerry and Gingrich on Kerry's blog at:

http://blog.johnkerry.com/2007/04/john_kerry_and_newt_gingrich_f.html

The more voices and the more different points of view that are represented in live-blogging discussions of this sort, the better the quality of the resulting discourse.

So stop by the Kerry blog and join the live-blogging thread there, and/or add your own live-blogging comments to this DU thread during the debate as well. It's scheduled to run from 10 am through 12 noon EDT, and there may be Q&A sessions afterwards, so there'll be plenty of time to put your two cents in at both locations.