The 2004 Catholic Voter Guide - A Service of the Catholic Voting Project

The 2004 Catholic Voter Guide - A Service of the Catholic Voting Project

A role-model of a good, clear, what-are-the-issues site. The Catholic Voter broke up every issue under discussion in the last election, and ranked Bush and Kerry as they fared against the Bishops.

Consider:

Care For the Earth

Bishops: In the words of Pope John Paul II, care for the Earth and for the environment is a "moral issue." We support policies that protect the land, water, and the air we share. Reasonable and effective initiatives are required for energy conservation and the development of alternate, renewable, and clean-energy resources. We encourage citizens and public officials to seriously address global climate change, focusing on prudence, the common good, and the option for the poor, particularly its impact on developing nations. The United States should lead the developed nations in contributing to the sustainable development of poorer nations and greater justice in sharing the burden of environmental neglect and recovery.

Bush: Withdrew the U.S. from the Kyoto Treaty, which supported further study of global warming and called for reductions of emissions that contribute to global warming. Supports rolling back the Clean Air Act requirements for older power plants. Supported drilling for oil in the Artic refuge. Supports lifting responsibilities from oil, gas and chemical companies in cleaning up polluted areas. This will save companies $29B. Proposed the Healthy Forests initiative which allows companies to log more forests.

Kerry: Voted to strengthen enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Supports reducing automobile emissions by increasing the production of renewable energy like wind and solar power. Opposes limiting the Clean Water Act. Opposes the Healthy Forests iniative which would allow companies to log more forests. Endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters.

All this leads one to wonder how the Bishops' actual concerns got so little press during the election. How are progressive concerns getting swept under the media whitewash?

Earnest, moderate, evenly-weighed sites like this one are only the first step in convincing the electorate that the Christian vote is a serious responsibility, and that Fox News isn't an authority on what Christianity entails.

The next steps will be about coordinating this kind of display with a sophisticated agenda shown by grass-rights groups, coherent publicity in the media, and sense-making, Christian political messages from the candidates themselves.