According to most political pundits, the war in Iraq was the primary issue that galvanized American voters in the 2006 mid-term election and gave the Democrats control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate--for at least the final two years of the Bush presidency.

Even so, the environment played a larger than usual role for both candidates and voters in this election. Never have so many candidates, of both major parties, at every level—local, state and national—run on energy and environmental issues.

_{Photo courtesy of Kenn Kiser}

Voters' Energy and Environmental Concerns Grew Steadily
Voter concerns about rising gasoline prices deepened during the 2006 campaign season into serious doubts about the current U.S. energy policy and the lack of responsible leadership on critical energy and environmental issues, ranging from America’s growing dependence on foreign oil to the threat of global warming.

As far back as January 2006, 62 percent of Americans disapproved of the way President Bush and the Republican-led Congress were handling the environment, energy, and other domestic issues such as health care and education, according to an AP-Ipsos poll, and 49 percent said they would vote for Democrats in the next election, compared to only 36 percent who said they would vote for Republicans.

As the election drew near, voters expressed increasing concerns about the shortage of visionary and innovative solutions to pressing energy and environmental problems as well as the corrupting influence of oil and gas interests that seemed to undermine many genuine attempts to solve those problems.

In August 2006, 56 percent of respondents in a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll said President Bush was doing too little to protect the environment--a sharp increase from 2001 when only 41 percent said the president was not doing enough for the environment--and 58 percent said the Bush administration was not doing enough to reduce global warming.

The Voters Spoke with Their Ballots
Yesterday, U.S. voters expressed their concerns about the lack of enlightened political leadership on energy and environmental issues at the ballot box, electing a record number of local, state and national leaders who have pledged to move the nation in a new and better direction.

"Voters clearly voted for big change, not Big Oil. They want new leadership to move America in a dramatically different direction," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director. "And a big part of that change concerns energy security and enacting smart energy solutions that decrease our oil dependence, clean up our environment, curb global warming and create jobs."

For a better understanding of what kind of policy changes you can expect to see on key energy and environmental issues following the 2006 mid-term election, see Top 10 Potential Environmental Benefits of the 2006 Election.

Also Read:
The Meaning of Democratic Gains, Republican Losses in the 2006 Elections -- About U.S. Liberal Politics
The First 2006 Post-Election Casualty -- About U.S. Politics & Current Events
World Reaction to the U.S. Election -- About Globalization Issues
Top 10 Things to Expect as a Result of the 2006 Mid-term Elections -- About Civil Liberties
Should the United States Ratify the Kyoto Protocol?
AP Poll: Americans Critical of Bush, Favor Democrats for Congress
Poll: Americans Bash Bush on Environment
Energy and Environment Top Issues for World Economic Leaders