- 22% moral values (80% for Bush)
- 19% terrorism (86% for Bush)
- 15% Iraq (73% for Kerry)
- 18% economy (80% for Kerry)
- 8% health care (77% for Kerry)
- 5% taxes (57% for Bush)
- 4% education (73% for Kerry)
Source: CNN exit polls
5 thoughts on “Most important issue”
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Our nation’s lack of concern about the environment is distressing.
I care about the environment a great deal but I wouldn’t have answered that it was my “most important issue.”
Maybe you and others should move environmental concerns up the list.
From the wire services:
WASHINGTON – Global warming is heating the Arctic almost twice as fast as the rest of the planet in a thaw that threatens millions of livelihoods and could wipe out polar bears by 2100, an eight-nation report said on Monday.
The biggest survey to date of the Arctic climate, by 250 scientists, said the accelerating melt could be a foretaste of wider disruptions from a buildup of human emissions of heat-trapping gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
The “Arctic climate is now warming rapidly and much larger changes are projected,” according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, funded by the United States, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
The study said the annual average amount of sea ice in the Arctic has decreased about 8 percent in the past 30 years, resulting in the loss of 386,100 square miles of sea ice – an area bigger than Texas and Arizona combined.
“The polar regions are essentially the Earth’s air conditioner,” Michael MacCracken, president of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences, said at a news conference Monday. “Imagine the Earth having a less efficient air conditioner.”
Pointing to the report as a clear signal that global warming is real, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said the “dire consequences” of warming in the Arctic underscore the need for their proposal to require U.S. cuts in emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
I too consider the environment to be a critically important issue, but hardly the “most important issue.” Do you think people in 1910 could have accurately predicted our most serious problems? We have to get a better understanding of the dynamic evidenced by this study and of ways we can attempt to avoid the future it predicts. However, there are more immediate threats and concerns that trump this as the number one priority for our nation. For example, consider the emotional, economic, and environmental impact of a terrorist attack in the US involving a nuclear bomb (and our our inevitable response). Now consider the impact, environmental and otherwise, if the material for the attack on the US comes from Russia or China. How does a nuclear winter affect global warming?
I worked on Kerry’s Senate staff doing environmental issues. And knowing his views and credentials in this area, I mourn the loss of his environmental policies (and appointments — especially when compared to Bush). But, despite this, I would not have voted for him unless I was confident that he and the folks that he would bring into government with him would deal with terrorism and Iraq better than Bush and the people that he brought.
The environment may not be the highest thing on the list of concerns, but I think it should be far more important than moral values or taxes as a national issue when it comes to selecting a president (and the cabinet he will appoint). Our current administration has caused tremendous setbacks in our environmental protections, and they’ve tricked too many Americans into complacency by mis-naming programs (such as the “Clean Air Act”) as the opposite of what they really are. Of course, by appointing people to protect the environment who come from industries that have tradionally ravaged it, what can we expect? I think the Dems missed the boat not making it a bigger issue. Far too many Americans already suffer serious health consequences from environmental pollutions, and our children will have it even worse.