Ralph Nader Speaks at EarthFest
By Broadside Staff Reporter Ethan Vaughan
Photo by Broadside Photography Editor Courtney Erland
Ralph Nader visited George Mason University last Saturday and spoke of the need for the United States to immediately end its oil dependency.
- VIDEO: Nader speaks, bands play at Earthfest
- AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Footage from the event.
The environmental and consumer rights’ activist came to Mason as a part of Mason’s EarthFest, an event co-sponsored by Broadside and the GMU Environmental Awareness Group to help generate attention for environmental issues.
Nader spoke to the EarthFest crowd addressing global warming and the ongoing oil crisis.
He moved to the Johnson Center later in the afternoon for a political presentation concerning the details of his 2008 presidential campaign.
Nader has run for the office of president in every election since 1992, and has, in each contest since 2000, been the official candidate of a third party.
During his speech in the Johnson Center, Nader criticized the Democrats who control Congress.
In particular, he spoke about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for refusing to entertain the idea of impeaching President George W. Bush.
Nader claimed that Democrats had neglected their Constitutional duties to check the power of the president and to hold him responsible for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
He furthermore referred to President Bush as “the most impeachable president in history bar-none.”
Afterward, he sat down with Broadside for an interview that focused on the environment and politics.
Nader spoke passionately about what he sees as the need for the United States to convert to more fuel-efficient methods of energy and defended solar over nuclear power.
“Solar power is safer and more decentralized,” Nader said. “Nuclear energy contributes to global waste and presents national security problems. A nuclear power plant makes for a major terrorist target.”
Nader dismissed fears that such a transition could potentially cause damage to the U.S. economy.
“Solar power is abundant, doesn’t contribute to global warming, and is job-intensive,” Nader said, arguing that a switchover to solar energy would create more employment opportunities.
Nader cautioned that even if the United States were to cease pollution now, the effects of damage already done would continue for decades.
“But we can slow it down,” Nader said. “And in thirty years, we can reverse it.”
Nader acknowledged that part of the current global warming situation could be due to a natural planetary cycle, but qualified that many of the recent environmental problems are man-made and that society can take significant actions to abrogate those problems.
He cited a pollution or carbon emission tax as an excellent method, saying, “The more it costs to pollute compared to not polluting, the less pollution you’ll get.”
He said that contrary to popular belief, the world oil supply actually remains sufficient and said he believed that oil prices were simply being manipulated by “greedy” multinational corporations.
That being the case, Nader said that “even if we had enough oil for a thousand years, we still shouldn’t use it.”
Nader said that oil is inefficient and that other sources of energy, such as sugarcane ethanol, are preferable to corn ethanol because the latter crop has “terrible net energy”.
Nader deflected the criticism he has received from several prominent Democrats who have urged him to step out of the race.
“[Those people] are political bigots; they should look in the mirror,” Nader said. “[They need to] stop scapegoating the Greens and
He also rejected the claim that he cost Al Gore the 2000 presidential election, reasoning that Gore actually won but that Florida’s electoral votes were “stolen by Jeb Bush and the Supreme Court.”
Fairfax County Chairman Gerry Connolly publicly reprimanded Nader before the EarthFest crowd for what he believed was the reformist’s role in causing Bush to be elected.
Student Media Group: