Kerry's new book hails everyday people saving the environment

[YankeyMCC]

(snip)
In town after town, he was deeply moved by the energy and enthusiasm he discovered among everyday citizens who were fighting to save the environment, Kerry said.

"There's real urgency to getting things done," said a relaxed Kerry, who snacked on cookies during a recent interview with The Associated Press in his Senate office. "It's not a Republican-Democrat kind of thing. ... We were inspired by that."
(snip)

(snip)
Among those highlighted in the book are a former Marine and ex-commercial fisherman in North Carolina who is targeting local polluters, a fifth-generation New Mexican rancher who took on big energy companies and a young woman in New York's South Bronx who went door-to-door to organize a community waterfront cleanup.

Kerry, D-Mass., said such personal stories struck a deep chord with him.

"I'm inspired by a guy who's a (former) Marine, who's 68 years old and could be sitting on the back porch drinking beer and watching the ballgame and doing a whole bunch of other things, protecting a river every day," he said. "That's pretty inspiring."
(snip)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/03/10/kerrys_new_book_hails_everyday_people_saving_the_environment/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News


Sounds like an interesting book and maybe the personal stories will inspire others. I'm sure there's a good dose of political maneuvering in publishing this book as mentioned in the article in terms of image rebuilding and following Gore's road but if that what it takes to get leaders to listen to the people that's fine with me. And I do think there is more than just the cold political equation to it for Kerry even if it isn't the primary motivator.

[sandnsea]

1. You quote a GOP analyst??

John Kerry is the last person who needs any image reparation on the environment and has certainly led as much as Al Gore ever has. I'm glad he and Teresa are talking about the practical things people are doing because that is ultimately how change happens.

[MH1]

9. It's amazing that, no matter how long an article, if there is one GOP quote in there,

some folks on the left will lap it up, without stopping to consider the motivation behind the claim, let alone the accuracy.

:banghead:

[fedupinBushcountry]

2. His motivators

were the people who he met along the campaign trail, it is their stories that need to be told and heard. I swear an article on Kerry just cannot go without RW talking points. Kerry and Gore have always been the leaders in the enviroment, Kerry and Gore have always been on the same road with the enviroment.

By the way here is where Teresa and he will be stopping so far on the book tour.

3/12/07: New York, NY
4/2/07: Portland, OR
4/3/07: Seattle, WA
4/4/07: Los Angeles, CA
4/5/07: San Francisco, CA
4/6/07: Austin, TX
4/14/07: Santa Fe, NM
4/15/07: Denver, CO
4/21/07: Cambridge, MA

This list is being updated as dates become available.

http://www.johnkerry.com/momentonearth/

[MH1]

3. "Following Gore's road"? Hardly.

I'm not sure when he started working on the book, or when he decided to do it, but in December of 2005 Kerry announced to a gathering of supporters that he was working on a book about the environment. (Gore's movie had not become a hit yet, if I recall correctly.)

Since this is an important topic to me, and I know that Kerry is a long time environmental activist*, I was very happy to hear that.

I guess Gore goes way back, too, but my point is that Kerry has taken his own road, and doesn't need to "follow" Gore.

* Kerry was the organizer for Massachusett's Earth Day in 1970
* In the 1980's, it was Kerry who brought US state leaders and Canadian provincial leaders together to forge the first agreement between the US and Canada on reducing acid rain
* Kerry was named an environmental champion by LCV in 1996.

I could list many, many more examples, but I think you get the point.

[ProSense]

6. Visionary:

Senator Tom Carper:

CARPER: I want to welcome Senator Feinstein and Senator Kerry to this hearing, to our committee. ... And I'd just say to Senator Kerry, my friend, my old Navy buddy, that I think you were -- and I've said this to you before -- I think you were ahead in your time in 2004 when you ran for president with a huge focus on energy independence and a great road map to get us there. There's an old saying, "A prophet is without honor in his own land." You were a prophet, and the rest of us unfortunately just a few years behind you. But thank you for joining us today and for your leadership.

[mloutre]

4. Political maneuvering? Image rebuilding? Gore following? Not hardly.

Anybody who's listened to either John or Teresa speak on environmental issues over the last couple of decades knows that their shared commitment to these issues predates and transcends any kind of so-called political maneuvering.

They've both been active in these causes for their entire careers in public life. (A pre-politics Kerry was one of the organizers of the first Earth Day events back in 1970 -- hardly a Johnny-come-lately on the environmental scene, hmm?)

The bogus allegations of self-serving motivations that the self-styled GOP analyst quoted in the AP article (and paraphrased in the OP here) falsely attributed to the Kerries in this regard are exactly that -- bogus.

And as for their supposedly trying to follow in Al Gore's footsteps by writing this book, well, let's just ask Mr. Gore what he thinks about that, shall we?

"John Kerry and Teresa Heinz have written a book that is a profound challenge to all of us but contains, in the examples of the men and women who are fighting the great fight for a better future for our environment, the clear hope that if we can embrace their resourcefulness, determination and essential patriotism we will prevail. Both John and Teresa have been long-time leaders in the battle to save the Earth's environment. Way back when it was not all fashionable, indeed when very few people in the world were even paying attention to it, both John and Teresa were providing outstanding and courageous leadership."

-- Former Vice President Al Gore

[ProSense]

5. More Gore:

For example, he had the best record of protecting the environment against polluters of any of my colleagues bar none. -- Al Gore

[glitch]

8. For some reason Boston Globe always has to trash Kerry, or at least zetz him.

They can't resist tarnishing their own image with some petty snarks.

[Mass]

10. For once, it is not the Globe, but AP who wrote the article.

[glitch]

12. Don't even talk to me about AP. They'll wire anything. And their radio news breaks

are absolutely pathetic, they should be used as an example in journalism classes for what not to be.

And the Globe picked it up. I am glad they did though because if they hadn't I might not have found out Kerry is coming to Seattle April 3rd! Usually I find out about talks I want to go to a couple of days after the event.

[Mass]

7. You seem to have missed that this is what a GOPer was saying of Kerry.

I do not expect the MA GOP to be honest about him. However, I do not expect Duers to channel GOPers's smears.

So, yes, there is A LOT MORE THAN THAT. MORE THAN 30 years fighting for ecological causes that somehow escaped you. I am not sure how you did that, probably because you do not care about this issue, but this is mindboggling how DUers could post things like that. May be Obey is right, after all.

[MH1]

11. It should be Kerrys' not Kerry's (AP writer's mistake, not yours)

The book is co-authored by Teresa Heinz Kerry. As noted in the article, she has a long history of environmental activism, too.

Among other things, in 1990 Teresa helped found the Alliance for Healthy Homes (then called the Alliance To End Childhood Lead Poisoning). Their website refers to her as "One of the foremost advocates on children's health and environmental issues."

Teresa has done a lot of work over the years on environmental toxins and their effects on human health, especially women and children. For anyone who is interested in this topic, you might be interested in Teresa's new newsletter: http://www.heinzfamily.org/Newsletter-Feb07.pdf
and also, the upcoming conference in Pittsburgh: http://www.womenshealthpittsburgh.org/

[YankeyMCC]

13. mea culpa

I apologize. I did not mean to emphasize the 'maneuvering' aspect of this. I know Senator Kerry has a good record on environmental issues and is not a johnny come lately. He's a politician and he must and should consider those aspects in everything he does so that he can have the maximum affect. I did not mean for that to be the point of my post or for it to come across the way it apparently did. And I don't mean that the way so many do when they say "I'm sorry if you're offended." It was my fault, I POORLY choose my phrasing and didn't engage my full brain in my haste. I read the article and posted my comment much to quickly on my way out the door.

I have high regard for Sen Kerry. I worked a good deal on his campaign during the general election campaign and donated as much as I could.

My intent really was only to praise the idea of his book of brining personal stories. I'm sorry.

[MH1]

14. Thank you for posting about the book!

Actually I kind of felt bad for only focusing on that part of your post. I probably should have come back and posted something nicer.

Thank you for posting it. It is just that those of us who strongly support Kerry are constantly having to defend his record against people who claim to be on the "left" but still have no clue about how good he is on these issues. Sometimes people do seem to fall for every stupid GOP quote that comes along. I am glad that is not really the case this time.

And thank you for working on his campaign in 2004. We almost did it - and it sure would have been nice to have a real environmentalist in the White House, wouldn't it?

[YankeyMCC]

16. He would've been a very good President

I spent election night at the local Dem Committee office watching the returns. I'm not a football fan but now I know what it is like (2004 was the first Presidential campaign that I was very active in - I'm one of those who realized the mistake of my near apathy in 2000) for die hard Football fans when they watch their team in the Super bowl. That's at least how I described it to my football fan friends. Unfortunately it isn't just the team 'playing' that looses when we end up with someone like Koomander Kookoo in the White House.

[emulatorloo]

15. Thank you YankeyMCC -- I appreciate your statement/mea culpa . . . EOM