Thoughts on the climate bill
It’s a shame that the Democrats are unable to muster the votes to push through a comprehensive clean energy bill. It seems that the Republicans, alongside Democrats from coal country and Southern states can claim victory (or defeat) on this one.
Some of you may have seen Thomas Friedman’s recent column, What 7 Republicans Could Do, and that just about sums it up. The partisanship in our government is paralyzing us.
It is unfortunate. The political reality for someone from Appalachia like Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is clear. It is politically necessary to oppose a bill that is designed to place added costs on coal, a commodity that has been a source of economic strength in his state for generations. But for all of the Republicans to uniformly oppose the bill is pretty amazing. Many of them were being lobbied by renewable energy firms, utilities and construction companies based in their states, describing the compelling long-term value and job-creating benefits of a clean energy bill. The fact that this did nothing to persuade them to support the measure is very telling I think, and illustrates the remarkable political pressure being exercised in Washington today. That’s my first thought.
Secondly, the shortsightedness of both political parties here is exceptional. They seems to view this only through a domestic prism, as if international considerations do matter. In a global economy, other countries are outpacing us in clean technology rapidly and are implementing policies that price carbon. This is the crucial requirement necessary to create a market mechanism that will spur widespread investment in low carbon technologies.
Some of you may have caught this article on China’s “cap-and-trade” plans yesterday. The Chinese do not need to bicker back and forth over political victories at the expense of important legislation. I guess that is one of sometimes frustrating, but necessary components of our system of government. Nonetheless, while we dither, they move ahead.
After the upcoming elections, the likelihood of revisiting a climate bill is essentially nill. The Democrats will see their numbers diminished and the Republicans will oppose any new measures that hint at pricing carbon emissions or clean technology.
Our government seems unable to implement the policies necessary to ensure economic growth and environmental security. It is a real problem.
