[Vision2020] New York City Mayor Bloomberg "A Vote for a President to Lead on Climate Change"

[Wayne Price]

I'm sorry, but it appears that the only interest that Bloomberg has is  
Bloomberg!


Wayne











On Nov 2, 2012, at 4:30 PM, Joe Campbell wrote:

> Wow! What an interesting guy. Bloomberg was on the list of
> contributors to the YES-side of the Idaho education initiatives. His
> appreciation of climate change is encouraging. Joe
>
> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 3:36 PM, Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
>> Critical statement from Bloomberg, in his endorsement of Obama for
>> president:
>>
>> "Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather  
>> we have
>> experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be  
>> the
>> result of it, the risk that it might be – given this week's  
>> devastation –
>> should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action."
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> First Bloombergs op-ed, then commentary from the UK Guardian:
>>
>> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-01/a-vote-for-a-president-to-lead-on-climate-change.html
>>
>> A Vote for a President to Lead on Climate Change
>>
>> By Michael R. Bloomberg Nov 1, 2012 11:55 AM PT
>>
>> The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and  
>> much of
>> the Northeast -- in lost lives, lost homes and lost business --  
>> brought the
>> stakes of Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief.
>>
>> The floods and fires that swept through our city left a path of  
>> destruction
>> that will require years of recovery and rebuilding work. And in the  
>> short
>> term, our subway system remains partially shut down, and many city  
>> residents
>> and businesses still have no power. In just 14 months, two  
>> hurricanes have
>> forced us to evacuate neighborhoods -- something our city  
>> government had
>> never done before. If this is a trend, it is simply not sustainable.
>>
>> Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather  
>> we have
>> experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be  
>> the
>> result of it, the risk that it might be -- given this week’s  
>> devastation --
>> should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.
>>
>> Here in New York, our comprehensive sustainability plan -- PlaNYC  
>> -- has
>> helped allow us to cut our carbon footprint by 16 percent in just  
>> five
>> years, which is the equivalent of eliminating the carbon footprint  
>> of a city
>> twice the size of Seattle. Through the C40 Cities Climate  
>> Leadership Group
>> -- a partnership among many of the world’s largest cities -- local
>> governments are taking action where national governments are not.
>>
>> Leadership Needed
>>
>> But we can’t do it alone. We need leadership from the White House  
>> -- and
>> over the past four years, President Barack Obama has taken major  
>> steps to
>> reduce our carbon consumption, including setting higher fuel- 
>> efficiency
>> standards for cars and trucks. His administration also has adopted  
>> tighter
>> controls on mercury emissions, which will help to close the  
>> dirtiest coal
>> power plants (an effort I have supported through my philanthropy),  
>> which are
>> estimated to kill 13,000 Americans a year.
>>
>> Mitt Romney, too, has a history of tackling climate change. As  
>> governor of
>> Massachusetts, he signed on to a regional cap- and-trade plan  
>> designed to
>> reduce carbon emissions 10 percent below 1990 levels. “The benefits  
>> (of that
>> plan) will be long- lasting and enormous -- benefits to our health,  
>> our
>> economy, our quality of life, our very landscape. These are actions  
>> we can
>> and must take now, if we are to have ‘no regrets’ when we transfer  
>> our
>> temporary stewardship of this Earth to the next generation,” he  
>> wrote at the
>> time.
>>
>> He couldn’t have been more right. But since then, he has reversed  
>> course,
>> abandoning the very cap-and-trade program he once supported. This  
>> issue is
>> too important. We need determined leadership at the national level  
>> to move
>> the nation and the world forward.
>>
>> believe Mitt Romney is a good and decent man, and he would bring  
>> valuable
>> business experience to the Oval Office. He understands that America  
>> was
>> built on the promise of equal opportunity, not equal results. In  
>> the past he
>> has also taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns,  
>> abortion
>> rights and health care. But he has reversed course on all of them,  
>> and is
>> even running against the health-care model he signed into law in
>> Massachusetts.
>>
>> If the 1994 or 2003 version of Mitt Romney were running for  
>> president, I may
>> well have voted for him because, like so many other independents, I  
>> have
>> found the past four years to be, in a word, disappointing.
>>
>> In 2008, Obama ran as a pragmatic problem-solver and consensus- 
>> builder. But
>> as president, he devoted little time and effort to developing and  
>> sustaining
>> a coalition of centrists, which doomed hope for any real progress  
>> on illegal
>> guns, immigration, tax reform, job creation and deficit reduction.  
>> And
>> rather than uniting the country around a message of shared  
>> sacrifice, he
>> engaged in partisan attacks and has embraced a divisive populist  
>> agenda
>> focused more on redistributing income than creating it.
>>
>> Important Victories
>>
>> Nevertheless, the president has achieved some important victories  
>> on issues
>> that will help define our future. His Race to the Top education  
>> program --
>> much of which was opposed by the teachers’ unions, a traditional  
>> Democratic
>> Party constituency -- has helped drive badly needed reform across the
>> country, giving local districts leverage to strengthen  
>> accountability in the
>> classroom and expand charter schools. His health-care law -- for  
>> all its
>> flaws -- will provide insurance coverage to people who need it most  
>> and save
>> lives.
>>
>> When I step into the voting booth, I think about the world I want  
>> to leave
>> my two daughters, and the values that are required to guide us  
>> there. The
>> two parties’ nominees for president offer different visions of  
>> where they
>> want to lead America.
>>
>> One believes a woman’s right to choose should be protected for future
>> generations; one does not. That difference, given the likelihood of  
>> Supreme
>> Court vacancies, weighs heavily on my decision.
>>
>> One recognizes marriage equality as consistent with America’s march  
>> of
>> freedom; one does not. I want our president to be on the right side  
>> of
>> history.
>>
>> One sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our  
>> planet; one
>> does not. I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk
>> management above electoral politics.
>>
>> Of course, neither candidate has specified what hard decisions he  
>> will make
>> to get our economy back on track while also balancing the budget.  
>> But in the
>> end, what matters most isn’t the shape of any particular proposal;  
>> it’s the
>> work that must be done to bring members of Congress together to  
>> achieve
>> bipartisan solutions.
>>
>> Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan both found success while  
>> their
>> parties were out of power in Congress -- and President Obama can,  
>> too. If he
>> listens to people on both sides of the aisle, and builds the trust of
>> moderates, he can fulfill the hope he inspired four years ago and  
>> lead our
>> country toward a better future for my children and yours. And  
>> that’s why I
>> will be voting for him.
>>
>> (Michael R. Bloomberg is mayor of New York and founder and majority  
>> owner of
>> Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.)
>>
>> To contact the Bloomberg View editorial board: view at bloomberg.net.
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/01/bloomberg-endorses-obama-climate-change
>>
>> New York's Bloomberg endorses Obama to lead on climate change
>>
>> New York mayor combines endorsement with attack on Romney for  
>> failures over
>> climate change, women's rights and gun contro
>>
>> Ewen MacAskill and Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
>> The Guardian, Thursday 1 November 2012
>>
>>
>> The impact of the superstorm Sandy was felt directly on the  
>> presidential
>> election on Thursday when the popular mayor of New York, Michael  
>> Bloomberg,
>> threw his support behind Barack Obama, citing Republican challenger  
>> Mitt
>> Romney's failure to back climate change measures.
>>
>> Bloomberg combined his endorsement of Obama with a devastating  
>> attack on
>> Romney for reversing his positions not only on climate change but on
>> immigration, guns, abortion rights and healthcare.
>>
>> His endorsement came as Obama received plaudits for his handling of  
>> the
>> storm that has devastated New Jersey and New York and also hit  
>> Connecticut
>> and West Virginia.
>>
>> The mayor, writing about the damage caused to New York by Sandy,  
>> praised
>> Obama for having made some progress towards tackling climate  
>> change. He
>> noted that Romney, too, had supported climate change moves in the  
>> past but
>> has since backed away from them.
>>
>> In a powerful passage that can only hurt Romney, Bloomberg went on  
>> to write:
>> "I believe Mitt Romney is a good and decent man, and he would bring  
>> valuable
>> business experience to the Oval Office. He understands that America  
>> was
>> built on the promise of equal opportunity, not equal results.
>>
>> "In the past he has also taken sensible positions on immigration,  
>> illegal
>> guns, abortion rights and healthcare. But he has reversed course on  
>> all of
>> them, and is even running against the healthcare model he signed  
>> into law in
>> Massachusetts."
>>
>> Obama said he was honoured to have Bloomberg's endorsement. "I deeply
>> respect him for his leadership in business, philanthropy and  
>> government, and
>> [I] appreciate the extraordinary job he's doing right now, leading  
>> New York
>> City through these difficult days," the president said.
>>
>> "Mayor Bloomberg and I agree on the most important issues of our  
>> time – that
>> the key to a strong economy is investing in the skills and  
>> education of our
>> people, that immigration reform is essential to an open and dynamic
>> democracy, and that climate change is a threat to our children's  
>> future.
>>
>> "Just as importantly, we agree that whether we are Democrats,  
>> Republicans,
>> or independents, there is only one way to solve these challenges  
>> and move
>> forward as a nation – together."
>>
>> Bloomberg's support comes after New Jersey governor Chris Christie  
>> praised
>> Obama for his handling of Sandy. Although Christie is a Republican  
>> and a
>> prominent supporter of Romney, he went out of his way this week to
>> repeatedly praise Obama's leadership in responding to the crisis.
>>
>> Bloomberg is an independent who had originally been a Democrat before
>> switching to the Republicans in 2001. He won the mayorship as a  
>> Republican
>> but fell out with the party in 2007.
>>
>> He considered running as an independent in the 2008 White House  
>> election and
>> commissioned polls in all 50 states, dropping the idea after finding
>> insufficient support.
>>
>> In his op-ed, Bloomberg brings climate change, largely ignored by  
>> Obama and
>> Romney during the campaign, back to the fore.
>>
>> "The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and  
>> much of
>> the north-east – in lost lives, lost homes and lost business –  
>> brought the
>> stakes of Tuesday's presidential election into sharp relief," he  
>> wrote.
>>
>> He added: "Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme
>> weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world  
>> may or may
>> not be the result of it, the risk that it might be – given this  
>> week's
>> devastation – should compel all elected leaders to take immediate  
>> action."
>>
>> Obama had taken major steps to reduce carbon consumption and Romney  
>> too had
>> a history of tackling climate change but had reversed course.
>>
>> He said he was disappointed with Obama on many issues, listing  
>> among them
>> healthcare reform.
>>
>> "When I step into the voting booth, I think about the world I want  
>> to leave
>> my two daughters, and the values that are required to guide us  
>> there. The
>> two parties' nominees for president offer different visions of  
>> where they
>> want to lead America," he writes.
>>
>> "One believes a woman's right to choose should be protected for  
>> future
>> generations; one does not. That difference, given the likelihood of  
>> supreme
>> court vacancies, weighs heavily on my decision.
>>
>> "One recognises marriage equality as consistent with America's  
>> march of
>> freedom; one does not. I want our president to be on the right side  
>> of
>> history."
>>
>> He concluded: "Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan both found  
>> success
>> while their parties were out of power in Congress – and President  
>> Obama can,
>> too. If he listens to people on both sides of the aisle, and builds  
>> the
>> trust of moderates, he can fulfil the hope he inspired four years  
>> ago and
>> lead our country toward a better future for my children and yours.  
>> And
>> that's why I will be voting for him."
>>
>> The Economist, which has a wide readership in the US, said in an  
>> editorial
>> it had backed Obama four years ago and was doing so again. It  
>> regretted that
>> Romney was too far removed from the centre.
>>
>> "This newspaper yearns for the more tolerant conservatism of Ronald  
>> Reagan,
>> where 'small government' meant keeping the state out of people's  
>> bedrooms as
>> well as out of their businesses. Mr Romney shows no sign of wanting  
>> to
>> revive it," it says.
>>
>> It concludes: "For all his businesslike intentions, Mr Romney has an
>> economic plan that works only if you don't believe most of what he  
>> says.
>> That is not a convincing pitch for a chief executive. And for all his
>> shortcomings, Mr Obama has dragged America's economy back from the  
>> brink of
>> disaster, and has made a decent fist of foreign policy. So this  
>> newspaper
>> would stick with the devil it knows, and re-elect him."
>>
>> Fellow Republicans downplayed the significance of Bloomberg's  
>> endorsement.
>> "It's not surprising to me. Bloomberg is a very liberal political  
>> figure,"
>> said George Pataki, the former Republican governor of New York.
>>
>> Pataki also argued Romney would be "far better" than Obama in  
>> dealing with
>> climate change.
>>
>> Pataki during his time as governor was one of the creators of a  
>> regional
>> carbon trading system – which is in partial collapse since Christie  
>> pulled
>> out last year.
>>
>> He said of Romney's position: "I think he is far better than Obama,  
>> who
>> embraced the Markey-Waxman bill. That is the fear when you allow  
>> people like
>> Pelosi and Reid and Obama to draft national legislation that is not  
>> so much
>> aimed at climate change but at expanding government power and  
>> government
>> revenue. I think Romney would be far better."
>>
>> ------------------------------------------
>> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
>>
>> =======================================================
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>> =======================================================
>
> =======================================================
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