Live-blogging the Kerry-Gingrich climate change debate this AM

John Kerry and Newt Gingrich are debating the government's role in dealing with global climate change this morning at 10 am EDT, and enviromentally-minded netizens will be blogging about it in real time.

The debate, hosted by New York University’s John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress, will take place in the Russell Senate Office Building and will be broadcast live by C-Span and simultaneously webcast at http://c-span.org.

As TheHill.com notes, this event ought to be a thinking-man's matchup well worth watching:

Kerry, who bowed out of the 2008 presidential race earlier this year, has been dubbed an “environmental champion” by the non-partisan League of Conservation Voters. His website touts a long record of fighting for the environment. He and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry also recently wrote This Moment on Earth, which addresses climate change and preserving the environment.

"Newt’s a guy who has spent a lot of time wrestling with climate change and the environment. He reads about it, he teaches about it, he writes about it,” Kerry said Thursday. “We don’t see eye to eye about everything, obviously, but that’s what makes for a good debate.

“As a father, when someone tells me that within the next decade, if we don't deal with global warming, our children and grandchildren may deal with global catastrophe, that tells me I damn well better do whatever I can to help make Washington deal with this responsibly,” Kerry added. “We need these good old-fashioned debates and forums and discussions to get everyone thinking creatively on both sides of the aisle.”

[snip]

“America should focus its energy policy in four areas,” Gingrich writes on his website. “Basic research for a new energy system, incentives for conservation, more renewable resources, and environmentally sound development of fossil fuels.

“The lengthy process of environmental planning must be made more efficient and cost effective,” he adds.

Kerry also noted he hopes this debate will keep climate change in the forefront of Americans’ minds.

“This is an issue of incredible importance to everyone’s lives, and we need to do big and small things every day to draw attention to the problem as well as the solutions. Al Gore has done a phenomenal job with his movie,” he added. “You do what you can to build the dialogue.”

Various progressive political posters will be giving the play-by-play and commenting on what they see and hear from Kerry and Gingrich on Kerry's blog this morning.

The more voices and the more different points of view that are represented in live-blogging discussions of this sort, the better the quality of the resulting discourse. So stop by the Kerry blog and join the debate about the debate.

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