The New Hampshire Draft Gore Statewide group has endorsed John Edwards based on his environmental stands and his leadership on Global Warming.
This coupled with his Friends of the Earth Endorsement adds up to a significant environmental block of the Democratic party.
More...
Although this is a late endorsement, it did happen yesterday, before the primary day. And any endorsement can't hurt.
UPdate: I just got off of the phone with Farell Seiler in New Hampshire. Here is a rough quote of what he told me about their group's decision to Endorse Edwards:
Our group was committed to Al Gore's policies and plans for the environment as we have on our Draft Gore Solutions page of our website.
(it is this)
http://www.draftgorenh.com/... • Moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired generating plants which do not safely trap and store the carbon dioxide.
• Universal global cap on emissions and a trading system designed to lower carbon emissions faster.
• Heavy financial penalties on emitters of carbon dioxide.
• Serious progress on Bali treaty Negotiations
We looked at all of the candidates and based on their policies, their information on their websites and their speeches, and made our decision. John Edwards matched up the best with Gore, and he was on target early on, which we felt earned him our endorsement.
Q - How big is your volunteer database?
Our membership peaked around 3,500 people statewide. Later, after Gore was not going to jump in, it diminished to between 2,100 and 2,250.
All of our members on our database wanted to be active on the day of the Primary. They wanted to do something for the environment in this election. At one point, our members wanted to put Al Gore on the write in column here in New Hampshire, but others wanted to actually work for the best candidate who represented Al Gore's values. That is when we decided to Endorse Edwards for President and work on behalf of his campaign for today's GOTV operations. These members are distributed around the state and are following our plan for the primary.
It is worth noting, that FOE and Draft Gore both have a moratorium on coal power plants as part of their standards. Edwards meets that standard and a moratorium on Nuclear energy plants as well. Obama and Clinton do not. Obama has also been a proponent of Coal energy.
"Draft Gore NH" Endorses John Edwards
by: Jay Phinizy
Acworth N.H.
Sullivan District 5,
Chair
Committee on Environment and Agriculture
New Hampshire House of Representatives
Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 23:32:23 PM EST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2007
CONTACT:
Farrell Seiler
(603) 568-4916
Farrell@DraftGoreNH.com
NEW HAMPSHIRE GORE SUPPORTERS ENDORSE JOHN EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT
Organization Cites Edwards' Realistic, Sensible Solutions to Tackling the Challenge of Global Warming On Eve of First in the Nation Primary
Littleton, NH - Today, on the eve of New Hampshire's first in the nation primary, Draft Gore New Hampshire, a statewide group of Granite state voters concerned about the impact of global warming, announced its endorsement of Senator John Edwards.
Draft Gore News Hampshire is encouraging all its members and voters across the state sharing their strong environmental values to vote for Edwards in tomorrow's primary election.
For six months, Draft Gore New Hampshire had been organizing an effort to encourage New Hampshire voters write in Nobelist Al Gore's name on the primary ballot.
"As an organization, we quickly came to realize that more aggressive national and worldwide leadership is needed to find workable solutions to the critical issues of global warming and climate change," said Farrell Seiler, state coordinator for Draft Gore New Hampshire. "The planet can no longer afford 'politics as usual' in Washington - where the nuclear and fossil fuel industries dominate energy policy making to the exclusion of economic programs designed to develop energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
"We came to the unanimous decision that John Edwards has the courage to bring about changes in the way decisions are made in Washington."
Draft Gore New Hampshire was organized in June 2007 and grew to include more than 2,000 members throughout the state. It is a 100 percent grassroots effort by New Hampshire voters concerned about the impact of global warming on America, and the world."
Here is his Friends of the Earth Endorsement in New Hampshire:
Edwards guys, please add in youtube videos (TomP!)