Barack Obama gains more backing from green groups

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an election all about change, environmental groups are doing the usual -- endorsing the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate.

The League of Conservation Voters will become the latest green group to back Democrat Barack Obama in five separate events across the country Monday. Its pick shouldn't be a surprise. Its scorecard of votes on environmental issues for the first session of the current Congress gave Obama a score of 67 and Republican John McCain a zero. The Arizona senator did not show up for any of the votes the group scored.

"When you look specifically at the twin challenges of cutting global warming pollution and moving toward a clean energy future, on those issues Barack Obama has the most comprehensive plan we have ever seen for a presidential nominee," said league president Gene Karpinsky. The league has endorsed presidential candidates since the early 1980s, but not once has it selected a Republican.

Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club announced their support for Obama earlier this year, citing McCain's support for more offshore drilling, expanding nuclear power and a gas tax holiday. Neither group has ever backed a Republican presidential candidate, although in 1988 Sierra Club made no choice because both Republican George H.W. Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis would have been good stewards of the environment, said spokesman Josh Dorner.

Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which has yet to announce its endorsement, said McCain's renegade image as a Republican crusader on global warming doesn't square with his record.

"McCain's campaign record notwithstanding, his record on the environment is decidely mixed compared to Barack Obama's," said William Lutz, a senior director with the group.

Democrats reach out to eco-bloggers

Key Democrats were pushing the dual messages of stopping climate change and electing Obama as the next U.S. President at a bloggers conference Saturday, with former Vice President Al Gore making a surprise appearance.

Netroots Nation is a gathering of nearly 2,000 left-leaning bloggers and political organizers. Gore urged the activists to mobilize for global climate protection by amplifying his call to generate all the nation's electricity from renewable sources like wind, solar and geothermal in 10 years.

At last year's conference, formerly called YearlyKos, seven Democratic presidential candidates -- including Obama -- vied for the support of the bloggers, whose political influence has grown exponentially since they emerged as a significant factor in presidential politics during former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's White House campaign five years ago.

Having locked up the Democratic nomination, Obama skipped this year's conference, but his deputy campaign manager, Steve Hildebrand, talked about the campaign's strategy to portray Obama as the leader of a new political movement rather than a traditional candidate.

Gore, who joined Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during her session at the convention, praised the bloggers as being at the forefront of reclaiming American democracy.

"Thank you for the movement that you have created," Gore said. "I can't tell you how important I think it is that you continue what you are doing."

Much of Pelosi's time at the convention was spent speaking out for an end to the war in Iraq and for Obama's election.

"The end could be in sight," she said to cheers. "This will not happen without the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States."

Gore said the seriousness of the climate problem is related to the economic and security crises of U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Recent Republican calls to battle rising oil prices with more drilling are "absurd" and a bit like curing a hangover with another drink, he said.

"Oh, let's just try to go back for more," Gore said facetiously. "When you're in a hole, stop digging."

Gore said he is trying to enlist 10 million grassroots environmental activists and asked the online organizers for help. Pelosi said she supports that effort and is working with evangelical activists on the common goals of protecting the environment and helping the poor.

"The economics of renewables are becoming very attractive," Gore said.

Gore downplayed the suggestion that he might accept a position in the next president's Cabinet, but he left the option open.

"I don't think that's the best thing for me to do. I could be wrong," he said.

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