Thomas Friedman, writing in yesterday's New York Times:
As we emerge from Labor Day, college students are gathering back on campuses not only to start the fall semester, but also, in some cases, to vote for the first time in a presidential election. There is no bigger issue on campuses these days than environment/energy. Going into this election, I thought that — for the first time — we would have a choice between two “green” candidates. That view is no longer operative — and college students (and everyone else) need to understand that.
With his choice of Sarah Palin — the Alaska governor who has advocated drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and does not believe mankind is playing any role in climate change — for vice president, John McCain has completed his makeover from the greenest Republican to run for president to just another representative of big oil ... Indeed, Palin’s much ballyhooed confrontations with the oil industry have all been about who should get more of the windfall profits, not how to end our addiction.
Read it all here, then pass it around, as my friend Dale did. I believe that with its implications for national security, a robust economy, and the mere survival of our planet, energy is this year's biggest issue, not just for students but for us all. And the choice is plain not only at the top of the Democratic slate, where Barack Obama will push for a decade-long Apollo-like project to secure clean, green, good-paying jobs and energy independence in a decade, but all the way down the ticket. Simply put: If you care about your children and grandchildren - their health, their safety, and their ability to make a living in the global economy - you will vote a straight Democratic ballot this year.
Does that sound harsh? Can you imagine where we'll be four or eight years from now if we continue to ignore reality and insist that more oil is the answer? From Idaho Republican leadership's willful disdain of local transit needs to the McCain-Palin platform of "drill, drill, drill," the choice couldn't be more clear.
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