2008 Democratic National Convention Roundup: Day 2

Day 2 of the DNC came to a close last night with energy issues front and center.

Hillary’s remarks hit all the right notes. TIME's headline: "Clinton Delivers for Obama." Gristmill writes: "Hillary Clinton says lots of good stuff on climate and energy."

Snippets from her speech follow (full text here, videos after the post):

We need to elect Barack Obama because we need a President…who understands that we can't solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in new technologies that will build a green economy.

He'll transform our energy agenda by creating millions of green jobs and building a new, clean energy future.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer gave a slashing attack on McCain’s energy policies and a rousing rallying cry for Obama in this stunner of a speech that names the "petro-dictators" as the adversary they are. That earned him rounds of applause and top mention in the Los Angeles Times and Forbes, who comments:

Governor Mark Warner was tonight's keynote speaker, but it was the raucous Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer who worked the crowd into a frenzy, delivering a kinetic speech about--of all things--energy policy.

True: Mark Warner was a tad underwhelming in his keynote, but the former Virginia governor and US senate candidate did his duty on energy and climate -- as did Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Her remarks here.

Bill Clinton spoke before 250 dignitaries in a private session, devoting most of his address to solving the energy crisis and global warming. Expect more of the same in his convention speech on Day 3.

Top energy venture capitalist Nancy Floyd made the case for why the cleantech industry needs Obama during her remarks.

Meanwhile, Plutonium Page at the Daily Kos chronicles the "clean coal" flacks who are swarming around the DNC. And DeSmog Blog digs for answers. Turns out, the shills handing out the "clean coal" swag are quick to admit they don’t buy the lie.

Some truth? Renewable energy is the key to voters’ hearts. So opines the Denver Post. You'll have to spend some time behind the scenes at the DNC to see for yourself though, far from the pageantry and stagecraft:

Off camera, the gathering is proving a fertile venue for innovative ideas — especially in the arena of the new energy economy that Colorado has helped pioneer.

What a contrast with the GOP. Here's the latest "news" from the McCain camp: In a First, Draft GOP Platform Credits Human Role in Global Warming.

Sounds a lot like politics as usual:

While the 2004 platform did not mention global warming, the draft document Republican delegates took up today in committee includes a one-page section "addressing climate change responsibly."

For the first time, the platform acknowledges that human activity has contributed to global warming: "The same human activity that has brought freedom and opportunity to billions has also increased the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Increased atmospheric carbon has a warming effect on the earth."

But the document remains silent on the question of capping carbon emissions -- a policy McCain endorses -- and tamps down the idea of using broad government regulation to address the problem.

"Republicans caution against the doomsday climate change scenarios peddled by aficionados of centralized command-and-control government," the platform draft reads. "We can -- and should -- address global warming without succumbing to the no-growth radicalism that treats climate questions as dogma rather than as situations to be managed responsibly.

For a response to that nonsense, look no further than Hillary Clinton's speech:

It makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.

Joe Biden will make his first DNC appearance as the vice presidential nominee tonight.

The rest of the Day 3 speakers are listed here, courtesy of the AP.

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DAY 2 SPEECHES

Senator Hillary Clinton:

Governor Brian Schweitzer (Montana):

Former Governor Mark Warner (Virginia):

Governor Kathleen Sebelius (Kansas):

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