The Empire Strikes Back

Even as its support in the hinterlands rapidly dwindles, the empire of big carbon is still on the offensive in Washington, DC. In a key test of how much pressure the coal and nuclear lobbies can muster, the House of Representatives voted, 264-154, to make the two worst available energy options (coal-to-liquids and nuclear reprocessing) the top priorities for federal research. Seventy-five Democrats joined the Republicans to override their own leadership and cave in to the energy special-interests that have always run energy policy in DC.

In a similar move, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan is reported to have made it clear that he will filibuster any legislation that improves auto fuel-efficiency standards, and West Virginia Congressman Rick Boucher announced that he would not move climate change legislation through his subcommittee until the Fall, defying Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has asked for a bill by the 4th of July.

But what's happening everywhere else? The tide is moving against Big Carbon -- in fact it's at flood. A national poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans want action on global warming and smart energy, and that only 39 percent of Republicans think their party will do a good job addressing it -- 34 percent of them actually prefer the Democrats on this issue. A new poll in Michigan shows that 67 percent of auto workers in the state favor a 40-mpg fuel-economy standard. Former Chrysler CEO Lee Iaccoca has come out and said that tougher fuel economy standards are essential to help the American industry compete: "We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car."

While Levin threatens filibusters, the Washington Post says that, in private, even Representative John Dingell has told the industry, "Get ready for bad news." (Of course, if Iacocca and the Sierra Club, and 67 percent of the auto workers are right, it's actually good news.)

Ripples have continued to spread from the Supreme Court's 9-0 ruling that operators of old, dirty coal-fired power plants do, indeed, have to clean them up when they upgrade them. In Columbus, Ohio, a judge in a Sierra Club lawsuit on this issue told American Electric Power that its refusal to make a reasonable settlement offer was foolish because it was in a poker game and the Supreme Court had just handed the Club and the other plaintiffs three aces. He told AEP their whole business plan could "go up in smoke."

So America continues to move, while Washington dithers and plays the "how much for oil/coal/nuclear" game. Reid and Pelosi are struggling to change the conversation, and they have allies. Unfortunately, most (though not all) of those allies are in their own party. How much does this really matter? Well, if all the stands on this issue of all the Presidential candidates reflected the country, where progress is rapidly accelerating, it might not be such a big deal. But except for John Edwards and now Bill Richardson, the Presidential candidates have not really begun to say what is needed. The Presidential contest is going to be the most important forum for Americans to come up with a new vision of the future, and the fear of Big Carbon that drives the political establishment may sadly undercut that opportunity.

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