[Update] Video: “Friends of the Earth” endorses John Edwards in NH

[UPDATE]: From the comments section:

Friends of the Earth supports Cape Wind

Both Candidates for MA 5th District Support Cape Wind for interested voters in the big race we have upcoming.

First a bit about the group:

Friends of the Earth Action

Founded by David Browner in 1967, Friends of the Earth Action has established a 35-year record of not only fighting the tough battles, but winning them too. FoE Action provides political muscle here in the U.S. for our sister organization, Friends of the Earth, and its affiliates in over 70 nations around the world. FoE Action and its affiliated PAC make thoughtful political endorsements, provide direct support to candidates, and place environmentalists in the field on critical campaigns.

FoE Action works on a dynamic set of issues, including energy policy, corporate pollution, environmental legislation, consumer-product toxins, tax and budget policies, and international trade and financing. We not only fight for laws and lawmakers that will do the right thing on these issues, but we help the public join in the political battle as well. Only unprecedented political action from across the nation will turn the United States and hopefully our planet back on a sustainable course.

Now for the remarks by the President, Brent Blackwelder.

We believe that John Edwards is the candidate that is most committed and the best prepared to deal with the critical issue of global warming and to promote a healthy and livable planet for our families and our future.

He talks about “coming through seven years” of the Bush administration like it’s been some kind of trial of faith or pilgrimage. As a leader of such a great grassroots group I bet it has been a trial. I bet his faith in the system has been seriously called into question. But his faith in people has never been questioned. And the power of ordinary people to participate in a meaningful discussion about such an enormous issue has never been needed more. So he fights on as do millions just like him across this great country and beyond. How far who knows. But Mr. Blackwelder and FoEA have decided to join this fight in NH and they have decided to soldier for Edwards, to bear his burden as their own and to walk the streets, captain the precincts, knock on the doors and call everyone they possibly can in the entire to state to show their support for who they feel is the right leader at this time on the most sacred value they share as a group of citizens of this planet. The planet itself.

Why? Well you could just click on the link and watch the tape, but here is what Mr. Blackwelder said today:

Video: Brent Blackwelder and FoE endorse John Edwards in NH (7:03)

In particular, on the pre-eminent issue of our time John Edwards has been out in front on the global warming crisis with the most comprehensive and best plan to deal with this critical issue.

Blackwelder states here that the Edwards plan would:
(all items are direct quotes from Blackwelder)

• cap and reduce emissions in accordance with what the science says has to be done
• lead us and the rest of the world into a new treaty to deal with this overwhelming problem
• form a new energy fund that would invest in clean energy technologies creating over a million new jobs

These are outstanding bold ideas, but bold ideas have characterized his campaign from the start. He enumerated three major issues: ending the war; ending poverty and ending global warming. No other candidate has taken that kind of courageous stand. No other candidate has put the critical issue of global warming so central in their campaign… This is what makes us so enthusiastic about this endorsement.

But let me tell you a couple of other things that are very crucial as we look to the future. One is nuclear power issues.

Blackwelder talks about how the Edwards position on nuclear power is so important to him and his group. Blackwelder continues, “it is a disaster. It is too expensive. It is too dangerous. It is too tempting a terrorist target.”

Imagine a candidate here in the shadow of Seabrook saying, “we ought to keep this option open. We ought to invest in more nuclear power or we’re agnostic about whether we should be looking at nuclear power.” John Edwards is unequivocal, “this is unacceptable for our children and our future.” We’ve got much better ways to invest our money as his plan calls for.

Here’s another defining characteristic about the Edwards campaign which is looking at the control of special interests corporate lobbying at the throat of government. Just yesterday he said that he would rule out the corporate special lobbyists contributions to candidates. We have seen how those poisonous influences have dominated and driven environmental policies in the Bush administration. It’s time to end that and in an Edwards administration I don’t think you’d have a vice-president convening secret meetings for the oil, mining and utility industry to scheme on how they would rewrite scientific documents and lie about the facts.

He talked about “this administration,” first things first Mr. President – Brent that is, would be open to input from the citizens of this country. “Big campaign cash is not going to dictate the future for the health of this planet.”

He talks a bit about the organization here and their roots in the grassroots. “Together with our sister organization, Friends of the Earth, we are the U.S. voice of the world’s largest global advocacy program with member groups in 70 countries and … over 100,000 members and supporters,” in this country. Mr. Blackwelder talks passionately about the work ahead in the “vigorous campaign” they plan to launch independently in their support of the candidate.

Let me just close with a quote from the campaign:

“Our generation must be the one that says we must halt global warming. It won’t be easy but it is time to ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war.”

Friends of the Earth Action believes this is the right message. It won’t be easy, but John Edwards is the patriot to lead us in meeting this huge challenge. So we give you our endorsement, sir.

Welcome to the fight Brent. We need you. Good luck knocking on doors and promoting the Edwards message as a means to address the concerns of your members and everyone else on the planet for that matter. We’ve got to take this one to the street. We’re up against 200 million dollars and it ain’t going to be pretty based on the non-stop trash bash we’ve seen so far from the media and “some campaigns.” We’re going to have to knock, pound, on doors to get our message out and I’m glad you’re going to be on my side in this one. We can, must and shall w
in this one with great people like you and your members all over the country and the world because the media may talk a lot about a lot of different things, but they also talk over regular people. They disseminate nothing but a 24/7 food fight through their communication portals, but the street is wise and the word is out. The street knows what’s up. The street doesn’t trust the media anymore, not by a long shot.

So it’s up to us to communicate with the voters in the race about the dire consequences of us getting this one wrong and not nominating and then electing John Edwards as President of the United States. It’s up to us now to communicate that vision and hope for our country in a meaningful way. Face to face. Citizens to citizen. Door to door.

Edwards is giving us all the tools we need to get the job done. Now we just have to get out there and bring this one home for him. For us. For each other. For our future. For our planet.

See you out there guys, any Friend of the Earth is a friend of mine.

Edwards spoke too…

Sorry to all Edwards partisans on this blog, I’m all up with people these days and this diary is about why groups like Friends of the Earth Action are so important going forward into a future without the partisan mudslinging so prevalent in our political dialog today.

Edwards addressed the press contingent eloquently and frankly, as usual. But I would just like to highlight his remarks here about a remarkable American; a stalwart, inspiring and trail-blazing proponent of justice for the earth, none other than Nobel Laureate Al Gore

Video: John Edwards on Al Gore and the endorsement (6:10)

Let me say, first, thank you to Friends of the Earth. I’m very proud and honored to have your support and endorsement. This organization has been doing world wide advocacy on the environment, on protecting the planet for decades now and they have enormous weight and credibility and prestige in this area.

You know, I’m reminded here in this beautiful setting on a Sunday in New Hampshire what our moral responsibility is to protect the world, to protect the earth on behalf of our children, ourselves and our grandchildren. It’s why I came out very early and aggressively on this issue of global warming.

I just want to take a second here and applaud my friend and someone I’ve admired for so long, Al Gore, for his receipt of the Nobel Prize. I think this is something that all Americans should be proud of. He has represented us well. He has been an extraordinary leader and advocate on an issue which when he began advocating for it, it was a fairly lonely battle. It’s less lonely today because of men and woman like Al Gore, because of Friends of the Earth and others who have been out there showing strength and courage.

You never know what’s going to happen on a Sunday in New Hampshire. The full remarks and the Q & A will be posted later this week in two diaires as usual. Also as usual, I’m a little backed up in the blogging department. I guess I need a new department: the department of backed-up blogging.

This diary is another in the continuing guerrilla vlogger series. I’m not associated with the campaign in any way although I do volunteer, but I speak only for myself when blogging. I support Edwards for the nomination and I do all these vlogs as a citizen journalist, as in I’m not paid. I do everything with an ordinary mini-DV, a PC, Movie Maker and free tools available on the web.