Environmentalists Revisit Grass-Roots to Oust Bush
Date: 27-Apr-04
Country: USA
Author: Timothy Gardner
The League of Conservation Voters and Sierra Club say they believe an old-fashioned, door-to-door campaign can tip the November election in John Kerry's favor, especially in combination with cutting-edge marketing technologies to identify pro-environment voters, talk with them and get them to vote for the Democratic candidate.
Environmentalists want Bush removed for what they see as a host of pro-industry, anti-environmental sins - including trying to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling and pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions soon after becoming president.
Environmentalists favor Kerry for his promises to cut dependence on foreign oil and his pledge to produce 20 percent of U.S. energy from renewable fuels by 2020.
"We know that in 2000 if people that cared about the environment would have voted, it would have changed the outcome of the election. I don't think the Sierra Club is unique in recognizing that it's a 50/50 (politically divided) nation," Sierra Club political director Greg Haegele said.
The League of Conservation Voters last week launched a plan to target voters in states determined by one percentage point or less in the 2000 race. Volunteers and paid activists will visit Florida, new Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin in May, with follow-ups planned for the summer and fall.
So far, 7,500 volunteers have signed on, many from colleges, including Brown University and University of California at Berkeley, said League spokesman Chuck Pocari. The League aims to dispatch 25,000 volunteers to 1.5 million homes.
GREEN ISSUES, SWING STATES
Rising mercury levels in Florida waters and the streamlining of permits for energy drilling on New Mexican mesas are among issues in those states that could convince voters to cast their ballots on Election Day, he said.
The 2000 election pitted Bush against Democratic Vice President Al Gore - a longtime champion of environmental causes.
But environmental issues were not a main focus of their campaigns four years ago and some Democrats believe that Ralph Nader's candidacy for the pro-environment Green Party gave Bush the White House by siphoning votes from Gore.
The League of Conservation Voters gave Kerry a lifetime congressional voting record of "92," better than the "64" given Gore. In the letter grades it gives to presidents, the group gave Democrat Bill Clinton received a "C-" while Bush got the first "F" the League has given in its 34-year history.
Political analysts say the candidates' positions on environmental issues could influence some voters in November.
John Weingart, associate director at the Eagleton Institute of Politics in New Jersey, said: "The feeling that one candidate cares more about the environment than another could be an easier thing to get out, and something that pushes people over the edge (to vote)."
'POTENTIALLY HUGE'
Pollster John Zogby estimates that only 4 or 5 percent of U.S. voters are undecided, which could make a grass-roots effort like the environmentalists' effective.
"Their impact could be potentially huge," Zogby told Reuters. "They don't have to move that many voters. If they move one (vote) more than half of a percent, that could be potentially seismic."
Other interest groups are also aware of the benefits of door-to-door campaigning. Conservatives have announced plans to win votes for Bush on issues like his opposition to abortion rights and support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Environmental issues grabbed a slice of the campaign spotlight last week, when Bush touted his environmental record with appearances near his family's oceanside compound in Maine and in the Everglades in Florida, where a bitter vote recount battle gave him the White House in 2000.
The Sierra Club and other groups filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday challenging the Bush administration's approval of a Florida decision to remov