Links and info on candidates, voting, and other election intrigue

• Register to Vote
• Meet the Candidates
• What the Polls Say
• Additional Resources

Register to Vote

Get off your duff and register to vote! Think you’ve got this one in the bag? Better check twice. Have you moved since the last time you sallied poll-ward? Changed your name? Switched your party of choice? Are you darn near positive that all of your friends, family members, colleagues, and bowling partners are registered — er, well, at least the Earth-lovin’ ones? Take care of it all at YourVoteMatters.org, where you can register to vote in any of the 50 states or D.C., update your voter info, and send reminder emails to your pals.

Meet the Candidates

Herewith, we present campaign info and a drippy environmental quote (hey, we’re not writin’ this stuff) from each of the declared major party candidates, plus links to some third- (and fourth- and fifth- …) party sites. Happy browsing!

Democrats

Gen. Wesley Clark

Read a Muckraker column about Clark’s environmental inclinations: Go, Wes, Young Man

“[W]e must do more to protect our natural resources, enabling us to extend their economic value indefinitely through wise natural resource extraction policies that protect the beauty and diversity of our American ecosystems — our seacoasts, mountains, wetlands, rainforests, alpine meadows, original timberlands, and open prairies. We must balance carefully the short-term needs for commercial exploitation with longer-term respect for the natural gifts our country has received.”
— from the Clark website

Gov. Howard Dean

Read a Grist interview with Dean: Rebel with a Cause?

“I believe that there are few things we in public office can leave to our children and their children that are more important than the spectacular wilderness, clean waters, and beautiful forests that we now enjoy. One hundred years from now, long after my governorship has ended, Vermonters will continue to hike, camp, hunt, fish, and farm lands that will be forever pristine, because we protected hundreds of thousands of acres of land from development.”
— from the Dean website

Sen. John Edwards

“Unlike the Bush administration, Edwards believes that conservation is more than just a personal virtue. He supports environmental protection and energy conservation as a national commitment.”
— from the Edwards website

Rep. Dick Gephardt

“I will form a partnership with government, auto companies, workers and environmentalists to put us on the path to energy independence.”
— from the Gephardt website

Sen. John Kerry

Read a Grist interview with Kerry: Kerry’s Jubilee

“Nowhere is there a greater need for a new vision — a better vision — than in the decisions we make that affect the health of the environment. We know intuitively that America is only as healthy as the water our children drink, the air they breathe, the yards and parks in which they play and laugh, and the communities in which they live.”
— from the Kerry website

Rep. Dennis Kucinich

Read a Grist interview with Kucinich: Dennis the Menace

“Clean air and water, as well as an intact ozone layer, are not luxuries, but necessities for our children’s future. A Kucinich administration will toughen environmental enforcement, support the Kyoto treaty on global climate change, reduce oil dependence, and spur investment in alternative energy sources, including hydrogen, solar, wind, and ocean.”
— from the Kucinich website

Sen. Joe Lieberman

Read a Grist interview with Lieberman: Meet Joe Green?

“I will not pollute our environment or compromise our people’s health. I will not drill right off our precious coastlines. I will not compromise our air quality for short-term and short-sighted energy policies. I will not ignore or compound the growing problem of global warming. And I will not drill in the Arctic Refuge — not now, not ever.”
— Joe Lieberman, May 7, 2003, as quoted on the Lieberman website

Carol Moseley Braun

“If we put real effort into environmental technologies, we can not only create new jobs, but whole new industries. These kinds of solutions represent the kind of creativity that throughout my life I have brought to bear.”
— Carol Moseley Braun, Aug. 3, 2003, as quoted in an AP article

Rev. Al Sharpton

“[The Bush administration] can’t seem to find the people who are polluting the water and polluting the air. They can hear lawyers talking to clients in the middle of the night, but they can’t find people polluting in broad daylight. I will have an attorney general that will enforce the law.”
— Al Sharpton, June 26, 2003, as quoted on the LCV website

Republicans

President George W. Bush