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Obama on energy
TIME Magazine
The Full Obama Interview
… [Q] You talk about the need for an Apollo project and it just seems to me that if there is a unified big bang I theory in this election, it’s a program that involved national security, jobs growth, environmental…
[BO] Absolutely.
[Q] So why haven’t you given the big speech about it?
[BO] We actually gave a very big speech of it in New Hampshire very early on. And I recommend pulling that speech back up because it was pretty comprehensive and it gave the blueprint for our energy approach. I think that the immediate economic crisis and the consequent decline in oil prices has led us to a dangerous point where maybe we start thinking in terms of business as usual again.
The biggest problem with our energy policy has been to lurch from crisis to trance. And what we need is a sustained, serious effort. Now, I actually think the biggest opportunity right now is not just gas prices at the pump but the fact that the engine for economic growth for the last 20 years is not going to be there for the next 20, and that was consumer spending. I mean, basically, we turbo-charged this economy based on cheap credit. Whatever else we think is going to happen over the next certainly 5 years, one thing we know, the days of easy credit are going to be over because there is just too much de-leveraging taking place, too much debt both at the government level, corporate level and consumer level. And what that means is that just from a purely economic perspective, finding the new driver of our economy is going to be critical. There is no better potential driver that pervades all aspects of our economy than a new energy economy.
I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it’s creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they’re contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs. That’s just one sector of the economy. You think about the same thing is true on transportation. The same thing is true on how we construct our buildings. The same is true across the board.
For us to say we are just going to completely revamp how we use energy in a way that deals with climate change, deals with national security and drives our economy, that’s going to be my number one priority when I get into office, assuming, obviously, that we have done enough to just stabilize the immediate economic situation.
(23 October 2008)
Working Together for a Green New Deal
Van Jones, The Nation
… at a certain point it occurred to me that what we need is less investment in the fight against and more energy in the fight for: for positive alternatives to violence and incarceration. It was around that time that I got involved in the environmental movement. And I came to understand that the answer to our social, economic and ecological crises can be one and the same: a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.
Society faces some huge challenges. The individuals, entrepreneurs and community leaders who will step up to make the repairs and changes are going to need help. They require and deserve a world-class partner in our government. The time has come for a public-private community partnership to fix this country and put it back to work. In the framework of a Green New Deal, the government would become a powerful partner to the problem solvers of the world–and not the problem makers.
Now, we cannot achieve the goal of a Green New Deal just by wishing for it. The first step in getting the government to support an inclusive, green economy is to build a durable political coalition.
On the one hand, there are large and powerful constituencies of white, affluent, college-educated progressives active in the United States. They are passionate about the environment, fair trade, economic justice and global peace. Unfortunately, many do not yet work in concert with people of color in their own country to pursue this agenda; they champion “alternative economic development strategies” across the globe, but not across town. These people could be great allies in uplifting our inner cities if they are given encouragement and a clear opportunity to do so.
On the other hand, many groups of people of color do not want to work in coalition with majority white organizations and white leaders. Many fear betrayal; others resent chronic white arrogance. Cultural differences and power imbalances create tensions; some organizations are actually committed to a racially exclusive ideology. Even though such organizations could benefit from additional allies and outside assistance, the very folks who could most benefit from a green opportunity agenda are loath to get involved.
Taken together, this means that the various US social change movements today are still nearly as racially segregated as the rest of society. This is a moral tragedy. And it is a tremendous barrier to building sufficient power to advance a positive social change agenda for anyone and everyone. Breaking through this standoff is a critical first step toward building a New Deal coalition for the new century–which would be the only thing dynamic, diverse and powerful enough to overcome the obstacles to progress.
In the New Deal period, it was a broad electoral coalition that moved the government onto the side of ordinary people, not FDR alone. Farmers, workers, ethnic minorities, students, intellectuals, progressive bankers and forward-thinking business leaders all joined forces at the ballot box to support FDR and his Congressional backers as they worked to revive the economy.
(29 October 2008)
Environment and energy are inseperable
Roscoe G. Bartlett, Washington Times
Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-MD)
You can’t talk about protecting our environment for future generations without talking about the energy we use to heat and light our homes and transport us, the food we eat and the products we use. These define Americans’ comfortable quality of life.
… Two bills should be quickly approved by the next Congress and President McCain or Obama. H.R. 6709 attracted more than 130 cosponsors, including 39 Democrats and received 191 votes. It would protect our coastlines by banning drilling off-shore within 25 miles. It provides revenue sharing and opt-in flexibility for states that approve drilling offshore between 50 and 100 miles. Revenues to coastal states that approve drilling would be directed to environmental protection, restoration and conservation. Without burdening taxpayers, most new federal revenues would be dedicated to programs for conservation, efficiency and development of domestic cleaner and renewable sources of energy.
H. R. 6559 and S. 3301 which U.S. auto manufacturers can support would establish an Open Fuel Standard (OFS) for cars. By 2012, at least half of cars manufactured would be required to use fuel mixtures containing a combination of either 85 percent ethanol, 85 percent methanol, or 85% biodiesel. By 2015, 80 percent of vehicles manufactured would be flex fueled.
The truth is that environment and energy policies are inseparable. Both can be improved with these and other bipartisan solutions already in hand.
Roscoe G. Bartlett represents the Sixth District of Maryland. He cofounded and cochairs the Defense Energy
Working Group and Congressional Peak Oil Caucus to develop bipartisan policy changes.
(October 2008)
Also on the page is an article by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA).
Can U.S. Go ‘Green’ Even When Oil Prices Drop?
Linton Weeks, NPR
Like clockwork, it seems like every time oil prices skyrocket in the United States, the country takes a step toward energy independence. Then the price of oil recedes and American energy consumers revert to their profligate ways.
It happened in 1973 when Middle East countries imposed an oil embargo. It happened in 1979 in the aftermath of the revolution in Iran. And it has happened again in the past few years as fuel prices spiked and a flush economy combined to propel the nation toward renewable energy, alternative fuels and the reduction of corporate America’s carbon footprint.
Everybody jumped on the bandwagon. There has been an explosion of corporations “greenwashing” — paying lip service to environmentalism — their missions. Automobile manufacturers tout new, cleaner-greener technology. Grocery stores encourage reusable bags. Professional sports franchises instruct fans on how to recycle.
But recently, falling gas prices and a flailing economy have again put the brakes on many of the green initiatives — sincere and otherwise — of corporate America.
Absent a comprehensive national energy policy, what will it take to get corporations and consumers beyond this yo-yo effect and onto a permanent path toward renewable energy?
(28 October 2008)
