Research Guidelines

The “As the World Burns” blog will report

a) notable events in the environment during the 2012 US Presidential campaign, from the opening of the Republican Convention, August 27, to the election November 6.

b) positions put forward and statements made about the environment by the presidential and vice-presidential candidates (including Party Platforms) during this period.

c) statements of the experts regarding the environmental issues that are reported.

Hypothesis. The hypothesis is that there will be a vast gulf between the gravity of what is happening regarding the environment and the positions of the US presidential candidates and their running mates.

         The larger hypothesis is that the United States government is incapable of responding responsibly to threats of the greatest magnitude. But validation or falsification of this hypothesis will require a more extended study. The current research can be taken as a sort of a “core drilling” into a particularly telling moment of the American character.

Method:

The method followed is data collection and organization. The data will be gathered from authoritative news or scientific sources such as the official websites of the candidates, The Guardian online, Science News, The New York Times, governmental and United Nations’ websites.

The stories or statements themselves, or an abbridgment, will be posted with references.

A document containing the statements of each candidate will be maintained.

A summary of events and a separate statements, with discussion (including limitations of the study) and implications for future research will be made and published after the election.

Complexities:

There are three particular complexities that can be kept in mind:

First, the candidates are prevented by practical considerations from being forthright regarding such bad news as environmental issues invariably end up focused on. Thus, adapting the principle of charity, their position should be appreciated.

         This is, nonetheless, irrelevant to this study. This study is a report regarding the environmental issues facing the world in 2012, and what the candidates for the presidency of the United States of America had to say about the environment at that time.  

Second, talk is cheap. It is easier to say something than to mean it or to act.

Third, the issues themselves have a long history;  their appearance during the 70 days of the campaign is like the appearance of symptoms. Thus, neither the statements of the candidates nor the events themselves are taking place in isolation from the larger context.

Before closing this report, statements of experts regarding the issues will be included.

The final report will be presented November 15, 2012.