01/31/08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Sandretti, (202) 785-8683 or david_sandretti@lcv.org

President Bush, Are You Listening

More than 225,000 Call on TV Reporters to Stop Ignoring Global Warming

SIMI VALLEY, California -- All four Republican candidates for president went on the record in support of allowing the state of California to enact tougher auto emissions standards that have been blocked by the Bush Administration.

In response to a timely and substantive question from veteran Los Angeles Times reporter Janet Hook, Senator McCain, Governors Romney and Huckabee and Congressman Ron Paul each said that they would support California's efforts.

Governor Romney's response to the waiver question, while positive from our perspective, came with a wet blanket.  He said that he generally supports the right of states to be aggressive in curbing greenhouse gases even though he thinks it's a bad idea.

We hope that the President was watching tonight.  Maybe now that the future leader of his party thinks California should get a waiver, maybe the President will reconsider his EPA's short-sighted and increasingly isolated position. 

Prior to Thursday's Democratic debate in Los Angeles, LCV and other environmental activists will be delivering a quarter-million-strong petition
to CNN urging moderator Wolf Blitzer to ask the candidates about global warming. Tonight's debate was informative and newsworthy on the question of the waiver.  Let's hope tomorrow's night continues to shed more light on this issue.