{"id":576832,"date":"2010-05-24T17:06:47","date_gmt":"2010-05-24T21:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/climateprogress.org\/?p=25919"},"modified":"2010-05-24T17:06:47","modified_gmt":"2010-05-24T21:06:47","slug":"axelrod-oil-spill-adds-urgency-to-passing-energy-and-climate-bill-reid-%e2%80%9cweaning-ourselves-off-of-oil-is-a-hard-fact-for-us-to-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/576832","title":{"rendered":"Axelrod: Oil spill adds urgency to passing energy and climate bill – Reid: \u201cWeaning ourselves off of oil is a hard fact for us to face.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

White House senior advisor David Axelrod has not been viewed as a friend to climate legislation by enviros.<\/p>\n

Indeed, I’ve been told by multiple sources he is one of the reasons why high-level administration figures so rarely talk about the threat of global warming.\u00a0 Sadly, he is among those who have been duped by bad polling analysis<\/a> into thinking it is not a winning issue.<\/p>\n

So his remarks today<\/a> are somewhat heartening:<\/p>\n

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“I would like to think that this will increase the sense of urgency in Congress, because it underscores the value in developing alternative sources of energy,” the senior advisor said during an appearance on MSNBC. “So I hope that it will give added impetus to Congress to come up with and pass a comprehensive plan.”<\/p>\n

… “I’m hopeful that they will do that, and we’re going to press very hard,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The key phrase is “comprehensive plan,” which is I suspect about as close as Axelrod going to come to say energy and climate<\/strong> bill.<\/p>\n

If Obama is going to pivot in June from the BP oil disaster to the climate bill, Axelrod would have to sign off on it, so this may be a signal that the inside-the-Beltway<\/a> buzz is correct.\u00a0 Given how catastrophically the administration failed to develop a narrative on the economy and health care, it is doubly urgent they get one on oil and energy (see Is progressive messaging a \u201cmassive botch\u201d<\/a>? Part 2: Drew Westen on how “The White House has squandered the greatest opportunity to change both the country and the political landscape since Ronald Reagan”).<\/p>\n

Majority leader Harry Reid went to the Senate floor today to deliver his take on the connection:<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s been nearly five weeks since oil started spewing into the Gulf of Mexico and onto our shores.\u00a0 Millions of gallons, miles of polluted coastline and more than a month later, the consequences of our oil addiction are as clear as the Gulf\u2019s waters once were.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also become clear that the companies responsible for this spill were poorly prepared for this possibility.\u00a0 There\u2019s no question that they failed to adequately invest in the technology necessary to respond to such a catastrophe.<\/p>\n

\u201cDays have turned into weeks while the experts continue to experiment with ways to stop the spill.\u00a0 We still don\u2019t know when the end will come so the clean-up can begin.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year, these companies rake in record profits.\u00a0 Then they turn around and spend that money on trying to find more oil.\u00a0 It\u2019s time they also find safer ways to drill for it and handle it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe five top oil companies have made three quarters of a trillion dollars in profits alone over the past decade.\u00a0 But the amount they\u2019ve invested in cleanup technologies is negligible.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they\u2019ve invested embarrassingly little in alternative fuels that would make us more secure both at home and abroad.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mind oil companies or any other company making money.\u00a0 But these multibillion-dollar corporations are getting rich at the expense of our national security, our economy and our environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day we pay unfriendly regimes to feed our oil addiction is a day we are less safe.\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone who stands in the way of diversifying our economy makes it harder for businesses to recover, for the unemployed to find work and for our communities to prosper.\u00a0 And every time we see precious water and wildlife coated in crude oil, the threat to our environment is impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n

\u201cWeaning ourselves off of oil is a hard fact for us to face.\u00a0 We consume more 20 percent of the world\u2019s oil, but produce less than 3 percent of it.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a change we can make overnight.\u00a0 But if we don\u2019t start, the next disaster could make the current one look like a drop in the bucket.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m tired of waiting for oil companies to get the message.\u00a0 America needs clean alternatives more urgently than ever.\u00a0 In the meantime, those responsible for this spill must foot the bill, and I will do everything I can to make sure they do.\u00a0 Taxpayers will not pick up the tab.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Great message guys.\u00a0 Now I have two words for you, “global warming.”<\/p>\n

Related Post:<\/p>\n