Debating Climate Change

                                    

Did you catch the Democratic presidential debate on CNN earlier this week? It was the most-watched presidential primary debate in cable news history (4.9 million viewers), which is good news for us since we bought advertising during the debate. As a matter of fact, we’re sponsoring coverage of another CNN debate next week.

While we are flattered that there are some people out there who are convinced we can dictate the questions of the debate, the reality is we are merely a sponsor of advertising for the program. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. Just as purchasing an ad in a newspaper doesn’t skew the editorial content of that paper, the same is true here.

Rather than try to keep the issue of climate policy from coming up, as some folks have suggested we are doing, we are putting our effort to ensure that the issue does come up on the campaign trail. In fact, here’s the question we’d love to see get asked in one of the debates: “How do you plan to help America meet its growing demand for affordable and reliable electricity while addressing the climate change issue?”

Isn’t that the question we’re all asking?

Sure, you can have a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; but if your plan means that America becomes more reliant on foreign energy resources and the cost of energy skyrockets, what kind of solution is that for the country?

We recognize that there is a shared commitment between electricity generators and those that they serve to reduce utility greenhouse gas emissions. The conversation now is about how best to do that in a way that meets the stated environmental goal, protects access to affordable, reliable energy and ensures energy security.

So let’s be as clear as possible — not only do we want the candidates to address questions regarding energy, environment and the economy, we can’t think of single more important question in the 2008 presidential debates.