Edwards Wins In Climate Control Poll

If we don't solve the climate crisis, nothing else we do will be worth a jar of spit.

ABC News' Raelyn Johnson reports: MoveOn.Org, the liberal grass-roots organization, declared former senator and Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards the winner Wednesday of their unscientific, online ballot, asking members which '08 Democratic candidate has the best plan to combat global warming.

After an online presidential forum where MoveOn members were asked to watch streaming web video of the '08 Democratic candidates outlining their proposals to address global warming, the liberal advocacy group sent its 3.3-million members an email asking, "which candidate’s position on dealing with the climate crisis do you prefer?"

MoveOn.Org received about 95,000 online responses. Of those, Edwards received 33 percent of the votes cast, twice as much as the next two candidates. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., each garnered almost 16 percent of the total votes. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., won about 15 percent of the vote.

"The enormous response we got from our members on this issue emphasizes how important it will be for our next president to make solving the climate crisis a top priority in 2008," said Eli Pariser, Executive Director of MoveOn.org Political Action.

The unscientific vote was open to anyone who joined MoveOn.org by providing an email address. Individual email addresses were only allowed to vote once. The ballot reflects the views of those who chose to participate rather than all MoveOn.Org members.

The grass-roots organization has not officially endorsed Edwards. However, they will begin running ads in Iowa and New Hampshire next week giving kudos to the climate change plans of three Democratic candidates who topped their climate change ballot: Edwards, Kucinich and Clinton.

Global warming was one of the first issues Edwards began talking about after announcing his candidacy last December. His energy plan calls for an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050; calls for new uses for coal; and encourages Americans to conserve energy and cut carbon emissions.

Edwards, along with other Democratic presidential candidates, is running a "carbon neutral" campaign, meaning the campaign has purchased carbon offsets for the greenhouse gas emissions created by his campaign travel, and the energy used in his campaign headquarters and field offices.

In April, MoveOn.Org announced Obama and then Edwards topped a similar ballot asking members "which candidate would be best able to lead the United States out of Iraq?"

MoveOn is planning another online presidential forum on health care for later in the year.

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....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free