From the Convention Floor

I’m writing this blog from the floor of the convention on Wednesday, so please excuse me if it seems disjointed at times. It’s been a long and busy day, but right now, the atmosphere inside the convention hall is electric. All of the delegates were sent a text earlier telling us to get to the Pepsi Center ASAP for the roll-call vote.  Now we are in the middle of the roll call, and – as I write this – the Georgia delegation is voting. Sen. Clinton is getting votes, but significantly fewer than were pledged to her. She met with her delegates at 1:30 this afternoon to release them to vote for Sen. Obama. (For the record, I’m pledged to Obama and cast my vote for him this morning at our North Carolina delegation breakfast.) 

Our delegation is getting ready to vote – our leader is preparing herself to appear on TV – but I don’t think it will get to us. New York will probably be the last state to vote before Obama is nominated by acclamation. Yes. There it is. Obama has just been named the official Democratic presidential nominee!

Electrifying! That seems to be the most common word used to describe tonight’s historic event. Regardless of your political preferences, witnessing the nomination of an African-American as a major political party’s presidential candidate is nothing less than monumental.  The highly orchestrated call by Sen. Clinton for suspension of the roll call, and the nomination of Obama by acclamation, will perhaps serve as another step toward unification of party support behind Obama. Time will tell.

OK, time to focus again on environmental issues. Let me recap some of my experiences and impressions from the last two days.

Yesterday, a major theme of the day – if not THE major theme – was the need to develop sources of renewable, clean, efficient energy for America. Everyone from the CEO of Duke Energy to the Republican mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Governor of Montana spoke about the need to transform our energy system with an emphasis on innovation, energy independence and efficiency, “green-collar” job formation, carbon emission reduction, and environmental protection. 

Today, the former leader of the Sierra Club came to the N.C. delegate breakfast to speak about energy policy on behalf of Sen. Obama’s campaign. Listening to him speak, and through my talks with fellow delegates and what I’ve heard from speakers here, it strikes  me how much energy and momentum there is among two segments of the Democratic Party: delegates who are environmentally focused, and those concerned primarily about jobs, the economy and Iraq.  As the convention progresses, I think we are coming to realize it isn’t an either/or proposition. Environmental issues, energy costs, jobs, and national security go hand in hand. The combination of high energy prices, extreme climatic events, and the war in Iraq provides the impetus for us to push for an overhaul of our current energy and environmental policies.

The day is winding down and I am on the Louisiana delegation’s bus headed back to the hotel. I want to talk to Louisiana delegates to get their thoughts on the approaching Hurricane Gustav. The potential disaster underscores two things to me – the frivolousness of some of the pomp and circumstance surrounding this convention, and the critical importance of electing officials who are best suited to deal with these types of crises. I’m interested to hear what the folks from Louisiana have to say.

OK, signing off for now. Betsy