With Election Day just around the corner I thought I'd focus on finding a candidate going green. I've received a lot of flyers in the mail for local candidates in the past couple of weeks. Since none of the candidates are a member of the Green Party, how do I know if any of these people care about renewable energy sources or climate change?

Granted most people running for office generally will make a point to highlight how they will rectify recent problems within the city or county. In my community, it is the budget shortfall and how we need to increase revenue. Sound familiar?

However, with environmential issues frequenting the political platform, especially among Presidential candidates, I though at least one candidate running in my community would mention it in their flyers and pamphlets. Nada, not a peep!

So, I dug a little deeper, via the internet, searching for a morsel of any environmental concerns among my candidate choices. It wasn't easy! In the spirit of sharing, here are my top three methods and tools as a guide for anyone else out there searching for a green candidate.

Tip #1: If you want to know if a candidate cares about the environment, then just ask them.

Go to your local candidate forum if you can. You'll probably, only be able to ask one question, so make it a good one. I missed my local candidate's forum; instead I'm e-mailing my questions to each candidate. If an e-mail address is not provided, then call the candidate's office, most city or county Web sites will have this information.

Ask general and specific questions concerning your community and candidate's personal philosophy. To be fair, make sure they're the same for each candidate.

Here are a few sample questions I submitted to each candidate: (I omitted my City's name and specifics here, but you should be specific with details within your questions.)

A) In an effort, to reduce energy cost for running our government facilities, would you vote for the purchase of renewable energy or energy saving products to run city or county facilities? Specifically, upgrade city vehicles with hybrid, electric, or biodiesel, installing solar panels on public buildings or lighting sources, reducing paper waste by giving citizens e-options.

B) Would you recommend green incentives or rebate programs for home owners and businesses? In particular, rebates for reducing water consumption by purchasing water and energy efficient appliances, adding a renewable energy source to home or building, xeriscaping homes and business landscaping.

C) Do you believe it's the responsibility of small governments as well state and federal to take the initiative on creating more energy efficient and environmentally minded communities?

Tip #2: Do your homework on the candidates.

Of course, I 'm speaking of candidates with a previous public service record or up for re-election. The amount of published information available depends on the level of government. When it comes to local government you may find some history on the city's or county's Web site under meetings and agendas or in community newsletters. Honestly, who has time to search through all that information? I was much more successfully when utilizing my local newspaper as a search tool. I still had trouble finding out specifically who voted for or against issues, but this may not be the case for your community.

Your search tools get better when it comes to candidates running for state or federal seats. In Colorado, I suggest going to RockyMountainSierraClub,Greenpeace.org search Colorado or candidate's name, and Colorado.gov. These Web sites are also good resources for Colorado's U.S. Senators and Congressional Representatives voting history.

Tip #3: Search candidates names for a personal Web page.

You may unearth additional background information on a candidate that was left out of their flyer or pamphlet. Sadly, I only found one candidate out of eight with a Web page. While I was searching I came across a question and answer page of all the candidates put together by a local Web page. A little more informative, but still no mention of any green issues. Your search might prove more worthy because some communities are more wired than mine and more populated which usually means better news sources.

Fortunately, campaign Web sites are more prominent among candidates running for state or federal seats. Candidates should provide a political resume listing all the bills they have helped pass or voted against, service on community and organization committees, definitely party affiliation and their personal political philosophy. Cross checking the candidate's environmental record with the state's web site or a watchdog group is never a bad idea just to make sure their claims are accurate.

I've utilized all my tips and found that Tip#1 provided me with the answers I was looking for among the candidates. It's alway best to go right to the source. With that said, I think trying all three tips will provide you will an overall perspective of the candidate's environmental concerns or lack there of.

Incidentally, the whole process did inform me of the top issues going on in my local government which I must admit I wasn't aware of prior to my intense search. More importantly, it became clear to me that environmental issues are not a part of the decision making process among my community leaders or even consider a fiscal opportunity.

If you still can't find a green candidate in your community, please go vote or send in your ballot anyway. Let your newly elected or current community leaders know your environmental concerns by e-mailing, writing a letter, or calling them personally. How responsive they are to your environmental interests, will determine if they're worth keeping in office when they're up for re-election. I know I'll be sending my newly elected council members some green suggestions on how to boost our economy and urge them to think about the environment when planning for my community.