by Jonathan Hiskes.
My request for President
Obama is simple, really: Dust off the secret presidential SCUBA suit, invite
the Senate’s biggest oil-industry shills on a “fact-finding mission” to the
Gulf (promise shrimp cocktails if necessary), and use them to plug up BP’s
hole.
Failing that, Obama
could start talking about the connection between the oil gusher, climate change,
our crippling national dependency on fossil fuels, and the need for a wholesale
shift to clean energy.
Fortunately, after a
tepid defense of offshore drilling and a maddening
silence about the big energy picture, he’s
finally starting to do just that, talking about renewable energy and the Gulf
fiasco in the same speeches.
From
a San Francisco fundraiser yesterday:
The reason that folks are now having to go down a mile deep
into the ocean, and then another mile drilling into the ground below, that is
because the easy oil fields and oil wells are gone, or they’re starting to
diminish.
That tells us that we’ve got to have a long-term energy
strategy in this country. And we’ve got to start cultivating solar and wind and
biodiesel. And we’ve got to increase energy efficiency across our economy in
our buildings and our automobiles.
Today at
the Solyndra solar panel plant in Fremont, Calif:
Climate change poses a threat to our way of life—in
fact, we’re already beginning to see its profound and costly impact. And the spill in the Gulf, which is just
heartbreaking, only underscores the necessity of seeking alternative fuel
sources …
Fifteen years ago, the United States produced 40 percent of
the world’s solar panels—40 percent. That was just 15 years ago.
By 2008, our share had fallen to just over 5 percent. I don’t know about
you, but I’m not prepared to cede American leadership in this industry, because
I’m not prepared to cede America’s leadership in the global economy.
So that’s why we’ve placed a big emphasis on clean energy …
But we’ve still got more work to do, and that’s why I’m going to keep fighting
to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation in Washington. We’re
going to try to get it done this year, because what we want to do is create
incentives that will fully unleash the potential for jobs and growth in this
sector.
“We’re going to try to
get it done this year” doesn’t presage a full-court press. But it’s a step in the right direction.
Next up, Obama
is set
to announce new offshore drilling regulations on Thursday—another
opportunity to talk fundamentals. On Friday, he’ll
travel to the Gulf to prove his commitment to stopping the bleeding gash in
the Gulf. It’s his best opportunity yet to influence how the country talks
about the state of its energy system.
Lots of smart thinkers
on the left have been arguing that it’s naïve and ineffectual to demand that
Obama somehow “do more” to get the country on a progressive track; he can’t change
the country—and certainly can’t change the minds of intransigent senators—on his own.
But the BP spill might
be big enough to alter the dynamics. Americans can now see with their own eyes
what’s so wrong with our energy system. A
new CBS
poll found a marked drop in public support for domestic offshore drilling-down
17 percent since two summers ago-meaning that more Americans now oppose offshore
exploration than support it. There’s an opening for fundamental change.
“Honestly, I have not
reacted to anything with this much impotent despair since 9/11,” writes an
Andrew Sullivan reader. “Not even Abu Ghraib and our collective, in effect,
non-reaction to it made me feel more negative about the likely course of our
society in the remaining decades of my lifetime.”
Oof-that sounds like a
citizen ready for a bold plan. Obama, by directing the media’s and the public’s
attention to the need for a massive energy shift, can give the issue more of a
boost than it’s gotten in decades. He
can make the point that climate and clean-energy legislation is desperately
needed, now. If Americans follow his
lead, they could—yes, I’m being hopeful here—put enough pressure on other
elected officials (senators) to get moving on an energy bill and other critical
policy changes. I get all tingly thinking about it.
Related Links:
The federal government needs to take command of the disaster response
How would you stop the Gulf oil leak?
Will Obama admin allow Shell Oil to do to Arctic waters what BP did to the Gulf?
