What do You Think about What the 2010 Candidates for Governor Say about Rhode Island's Environment?

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

Comment on the Gubernatorial Candidates' Remarks about RI's Environment!

Rhode Island's environment is greatly impacted by political decisions and budget constraints, and of course with the economy in its present sluggish state and not enough revenue coming in, the priorities the next governor sets are of the utmost importance. Rhode Islanders who see that our environment is really at the heart of things ~ that responsibly attending to environmental matters is necessary for our continuing to live in this place and essential to our health and well being ~ will want to listen to the candidate's views and express their concerns as comments on the YouTube videos of the recent environmental debate.

We need a governor, legislative leadership, and local news media -- in fact the whole population of the state -- to grasp the systemic nature of the problems we face. We need to reframe our problems in order to develop viable long-term solutions. The central problem for human beings is not "the economy" which is an abstraction focused on money, but on flesh and blood, our lives. Our bodies are part of the environment, not separate from it. The beating heart of the matter for each of us is being alive, having a living,* living our full length of days, and living fully ~ not so many [millions of] dollar bills here or there. When we rearrange our thinking and make human life central rather than money, budgets, and deficits, the fog can lift and we can begin to see our way toward a vibrant society for all Rhode Islanders.

Kenneth Block, Lincoln Chafee, Frank Caprio, and John Robitaille, candidates for Governor of Rhode Island, met in a debate moderated by Judith Swift and sponsored by The Environment Council of Rhode Island (ECRI) and Providence College Political Science Deptartment and Board of Programmers, on September 28, 2010.

There are 10 videos, each about 7 minutes. I suppose no one needs anything more to do, so if this is overload, forget I suggested it. And maybe you don't want to view all of the videos. But if the spirit moves you, pick one and comment!

No one has made any comments yet on the YouTube site, and maybe no one will -- I don't think a lot of people realize how valuable this could be -- a public record of citizen feedback on key issues facing our state. Oftentimes the comment features can be hijacked by people who have not given much thought to important issues, but it would be great if informed people would weigh in here so the next governor can be shown what Rhode Islanders think about the issues in the environmental debate.

Here are the segments. You will find them on the ECRI website and several other places but I'm linking directly to ECRI's page on YouTube so you can choose one and add comments!  Even if you see this post after the election, COMMENT!

1. Opening Statements
2. Clean Water -- Wastewater & Drinking Water Infrastructure
3. Open Space & Land Preservation
4. Rhode Island Energy Strategy
5. Solid Waste Management
6. Climate Change & Natural Catastrophes
7. Transportation
8. Scientific & Environmental Literacy
9. Environmental Protection & Economic Agenda
10. Closing Statements

Although there are no comments yet on YouTube, there are some comments in other places.

For a general overview of the debate, see

• Economy Tempers Debate on Environment. Peter B. Lord, Providence Journal.
• Gubernatorial Candidates Address R.I.'s Environment. Robert Hart, ecoRI.

For critiques, see

• Better Debate Questions and Are You Smarter than a Gubernatorial Candidate? Greg Gerritt, Prosperity for RI
• On Environment, R.I. will Need All the Vision It Can Get. Edward Fitzpatrick, Providence Journal.
• Gubernatorial Debate Review: FAIL! - Frymaster, RI Future.org [There are some comments on that article, but most are what I'd call the unhelpful kind.]
• Envirionmental Blinders ~ Green? Only if it is the Color of Money. Phillipe & Jorge, The Providence Phoenix. [after the tribute to Ben Mondor -- and go to page 2 for the last paragraph.]
• Straight Answers Hard to Find in Political Debates. Edward Fitzpatrick, Providence Journal.

The last Fitzpatrick column refers briefly to the environmental debate:

On Sept. 28, the four candidates attended a debate about the environment, and for the most part, they stuck to their records and “times-are-tough” themes, managing to make the environment seem more like a leech than part of the lifeblood of the state’s economy.

These are all the articles I found to date (October 14).

*I intend to write another post making a distinction between the money-centric view: "economy, business, and jobs" which is how most people think of things these days, and the life-centric view: "having a living, work, and a system of sharing goods and services." The terms we use to describe problems limit our ability to see solutions.