Opinion

Hillary Clinton & Tim Kaine

By:  Amy Copithorne

It is undeniable that the presidential election of 2016 has been controversial and has accumulated a lot of attention. Our two presidential candidates, Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump, seem to have two sides that are either rallying for their candidate or are more focused on spreading hate targeted at the candidate they vehemently oppose. Those who are doing neither are those who are left feeling like their options are unacceptable and they continue to seek answers as to how we got here. What I find most interesting about this election, is how personal the campaigning has become. It's expected that when competing for such a prominent and important position, there's guaranteed to be some low-blows and personal attacks. However, this election has delved into an area in which it's impossible to explore the real issues at hand. The people of our nation are wondering what the future holds for them; Will they be able to afford health care. Will they be able to make a living for themselves and their family? Will students be able to afford their student loans, while still succeeding in their intended field of work? And will our environment be cared for in such a way that we're all provided with sustainable surroundings? All these questions fall by the wayside as we focus on the offensive things Trump has said, the many women surfacing saying he's sexually abused them, and whether or not Hilary Clinton is as corrupt and crooked as some accuse her of being.

Despite being somewhat perplexed when considering which of these topics to explore, I find that I'm most drawn towards looking at both candidates' position on climate change and the environment. For me, the environment should be at the forefront of every debate and should be top-priority for any person who is running for a position for our government. Growing up, the geography that I learned in Elementary school and Middle School focused around where places were located on a map and the varying terrains and atmospheres of our planet. However, upon entering college level geography classes, I've come to find that the subject material has changed drastically. My "Introduction to Geography" studies showed me that the crucial content surrounding geography has shifted to cover what horrible conditions our world is in and how bleak the future of our planet is looking. Our resources are beginning to dwindle, our climate is out of whack, our sea levels are rising and our entire environment is suffering catastrophic changes. It's not to say that this problem lies solely in the hands of our next president, but here's a fact worth noting; "If everyone in the world lived the way people do in the U.S., it would take five Earths to provide enough resources for everyone" (Berger). This quote comes from an article posted by MSNCB News. This fact is further explored by stating, "Just five countries — including the United States — create more than 50% of the global CO2 emissions. In 2010, the world produced nearly 34 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel burning, cement production, and gas flaring. Fifty-eight developed and developing countries have set carbon reduction pledges for 2020; however, it’s projected that those pledges will still result in the planet becoming 3℃ warmer". With that being said, it would seem that our future president should feel some obligation to push our nation towards the trend of reducing our carbon footprint.

Thinking along these lines, I am inclined to express who my choice for our next president and it's the candidate that didn't state that climate change was a "hoax". I will be voting for Hilary Clinton because unlike Donald Trump, she believes that climate change is an urgent threat. Trump, on the other hand, does not believe the scientific evidence that climate change is a real issue that is threatening our future here on Earth. Furthermore, there is something called the Paris Agreement, which is a negotiation between nations in which there is an agreement to move towards reducing the negative impacts of CO2 omissions; Trump wants to dismantle the Paris Agreement and Hilary wants to uphold it. In order to explore Clinton and Trump's views on global warming, we can start by looking at quotes from both. This quote from Clinton comes from a speech she shared with the League of Conservation Voters and it states, "You pushed for and rallied behind President Obama’s use of the Clean Air Act to set the first ever federal limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants, which are driving the most dangerous effects of climate change. As you know so well, power plants account for about 40 percent of the carbon pollution in the United States, and therefore must be addressed. And the unprecedented action that President Obama has taken must be protected at all cost". Then when searching for quotes from Trump on the matter, all seem akin to this quote from Trump himself, "This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bullshit has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps, and our GW scientists are stuck in ice". To me, this shows that Trump has no real clue what climate change is and how serious of a threat it is to our world. Global warming does not just mean it's really hot out;  rather global warming means that there are extreme changes taking place in our climate, that are scientifically proven to be man-made. It's not surprising that all Trump cares about is money.

Our next president should be not only focusing on the issues that are prevalent in today's society, but should also be taking that a step further to ensure that they leave our nation in a better state than it was  when they came into power. I do not see Donald Trump as a person who holds those same opinions. Donald Trump has been after one thing this entire election and that's winning. He does not consider what is best for our nation, he only considers what are seemingly good money making business plans. Our planet and its conditions are not a business plan to be profited off of; It is our home and a place that should be protected and cared for so that generations to come aren't further impacted  because of our actions.

Donald Trump & Mike Pence

By: Jesse Gonzalez

This election has been riddled with accusations, drama, unproductivity, and fraud. It’s hard to believe in anything in this election when all of it is theatrics. One could only hope that our most popular candidates (Clinton and Trump) are telling us the truth. Unfortunately, each passing day brings more to light about each candidate, involving much more negative than positive reassurance. I will be voting for Trump, simply because I see him more of a realist than an optimist.

Trump tells the United States bluntly that is in poor condition, which is the realistic way of releasing the facts. During debates, Hillary Clinton will praise the U.S. left and right, while Trump contrastingly paints an ugly picture. Sure, it sounds depressing, and we all know that perhaps his solutions are going to do nothing to change things for the better. But to fix a problem, don't you have to recognize there is a problem? Hillary might offer solutions to our everyday problems, but it leaves me wondering if she really grasps the reality of the situation.

His other ideals and thoughts are not all that bad either. It seems to me like people listen to him half the time and the other half choose to ignore. It's true that he has some ridiculous statements, but if you listen to some of them closely, they are not that bad. During one of his speeches, he has said that there are some corrupt illegal immigrants coming into the country, but he has admittedly recognized that not all of them are bad (he also said that there were "some bad hombres", reminding us that this is a business man and not a politician). He stated in the final debate that he personally was pro-life, but will leave it to the states to make their own decisions. So if your state was pro-choice, then you have nothing to worry about.

We all know how tainted the presidential election has been this year. Our nation has definitely seen better years than what we have dealt with in the 21st century. When can we have a productive debate about what each candidate will bring to the table? Why must we have political figures that point fingers at each other instead of getting things done? It's certainly a conversation that is not done over coffee.

Regardless of what I believe, I am sure that we can all agree on one sentiment: The citizens of the United States just want this election cycle to be over!