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Posted: October 19, 2007 6:27 PM
Richardson Names Hunger, Poverty as Biggest Global Threats
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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had doomsday on his mind this week as he unveiled plans to address the biggest global threats of the 21st century, which he named as hunger and poverty, along with nuclear war, pandemic diseases, climate change and environmental degradation.

He also called for a Marshall Plan for the 21st Century and a revitalization of the United Nations.

“As a former U.N. ambassador, I more than anyone in this race understand the shortcomings of that institution,” said Richardson.

In a conversation with Texas Monthly on Austin PBS, Richardson said that the U.S.’s top foreign priorities should be the threat of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and becoming energy independent.

The Richardson campaign had to do some damage control in the Midwest over statements he made in Las Vegas suggesting he would use water from the Great Lakes to relieve the water-starved Western states.

“Richardson in no way proposes federal transfers of water from one region of the nation to the other,” said a statement released this week by his campaign. But Richardson did say in early October that northern states could help the West and specifically said, “states like Wisconsin are awash in water.”

And while he may be getting heat from people in the Midwest, a breakdown of fundraising numbers by the Atlantic shows Richardson with the highest per capita fundraising in his homestate of New Mexico than that of any other candidate in their respective states, collecting an average of $2.52 per New Mexico citizen. Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York is next in line with 88 cents per New Yorker.