If in the wake of the President's flaccid oval office speech there are still any doubts lingering in anyone's mind about whether the administration is planning to use the spill as a chance to unleash a game-changing energy policy strategy, a recent DNC oil-spill messaging briefing should put them to rest.
The report, compiled by pollster Joel Benenson and the League of Conservation Voters, shows an unequivocal voter tilt in favor of policies and politicians that support a shift towards clean energy and outlines an energy-messaging strategy the authors claim will help those policies and politicians win votes in the coming months. The "pillars" of that strategy, along with their "key dimensions" are:
FRAME THE OPPOSITION
* Big Oil and corporate polluters who have blocked energy reform for decades
* Politicians protecting the special interests that fund their campaigns
ILLUSTRATE THE COST OF OUR DEPENDENCE
* Our dependence on oil hurts our economy, helps our enemies, puts our security at risk
* $1 billion a day on foreign oil, oil spill destroying jobs and livelihoods
TAP INTO DEEPLY HELD VALUES
* Put America back in control of our energy situation:
* Cut foreign oil spending in half
* Invest in energy that's made in America and creates millions of jobs for Americans
If, as Politico's Mike Allen suggests, this briefing is the kind of thing the White House is using to shape its energy strategy, it's no surprise that we were underwhelmed by the president's speech the other night. While the oil spill may represent a potential turning point in US energy policy, the Benenson approach certainly doesn't represent anything close to a potential turning point on energy policy messaging. Except for the bit about the "oil spill destroying lives and livelihoods" there is absolutely nothing in this messaging that politicians haven't been saying for years. We've heard all about those big oil baddies and their buddies in Congress who have "blocked energy reform for decades" and kept us all dangerously dependent upon fossil fuels. And yet here we are with a stalled Senate clean-energy bill, a quickly changing climate and a Gulf full of oil.
Of course where this messaging really fails big time is on the "deeply held values" front. To win a policy debate it's not enough to tap into values; you've got to tap into them in a way that gives you a rhetorical advantage over your opponent. But it's hard to see how Benenson's effort to tap values like independence or patriotism differs noticeably from the GOP approach. Sure, switching to clean energy would "put Americans back in control of our energy situation" and "cut foreign oil spending"; but according to Republicans so would expanded off-shore drilling and mountain-top-removal mining. So where's the rhetorical advantage?
It's no surprise though that the value pillar should be the weakest of the three. The tendency to put far too much trust in the polls and far too little trust in their core progressive values, has always been the Achilles heel of progressive leaders like the President. This kind maddening political calculus is undoubtedly what informed the decision to turn the President's speech into a hollow piece of rhetorical posturing, and it's exactly the kind of political calculus that will prevent the President and his allies in Congress from passing any really meaningful climate and clean energy policies. Only by turning away from the pollsters and back to his core progressive values like empathy, as George Lakoff brilliantly argued recently, will the President find the political and moral strength he needs to successfully lead the country out of the oil-spill and climate crises and into a clean energy future.
Follow Keith Harrington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kharring
While it's nice to see the input of the famous, maybe it's time I invested more of my resources, education, and time into local issues I might be able to influence. My backyard. My city. My state.
Anyone have any suggestions for what a concerned citizen can really do?
Forget what he says, what has he done that makes you think he is a progressive leader?
If you do't get my question, watch the Daily show from a couple of nights ago with all the before and after quotes.
http://www.commondreams.org/video/2010/06/16-0
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/17/smallbusiness/small_business_bp_hearing/index.htm?source=cnn_bin
Compare Obama's recommendation to the top scientists, engineers and inventors of this country, to what a Roosevelt, Kennedy, or even Johnson would have done starting on day one - anyone remember the "Manhattan Project"???
DEALING WITH THEM EFFECTIVELY WILL RESEMBLE WAGING WAR!
See: Life Threatening Danger at http://www.aesopinstitute.org updated today.
Also, What to Do! on the same website.
Chris Landau, a geologist, believes the solution may be to drill 8 or more new, vertical wells, in a circle around the gusher, on the assumption that far more oil will be produced than can otherwise be controlled.
He states the oil might continue to be produced in huge quantities.
He suggests drilling 8 or more new vertical wells. These can allow recovery of the oil, which may need to continue for a very, very, long time.
You may want to also read Moving Beyond Oil and Running on Water on that Aesop site.
With adequate support, a 24/7 development program could move breakthrough technologies into production.
We can supersede oil faster than might be imagined.
This may prove to be an emergency equivalent to all out war!
These new technologies are less complicated. The science is hard to believe, as it disagrees with conventional wisdom. But, independent and National laboratories are increasingly involved. Once prototypes for schools are in production, it will become obvious that gasoline, oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear power will face low cost competition that can leave all of them behind.
Recognize this emergency! We have a difficult, but possible, job to do! So, let's begin to really do it!
As an expert in oilfields in the Middle East, I offered BP the following simple technique that can instantly plug the well. Though BP admitted it can work, it wouldn't implement it because it will kill the Well.
PLUGGING BP WELL BY A STRING OF CEMENT-FILLED CASING PIPES:
{BP has to lower down the wellbore through the Blowout Preventer a string of 18" Casing Pipes connected together 500-1000 ft long after being filled with cement}- Finito!
BP Well will instantly be plugged and there will be no need for the Relief Wells. They have assortment of Casing Pipes onboard their platform in the Gulf. The annular space between the Casing Pipe String and the well walls will be filled by pumping cement. The whole operation will take few hours.
REQUEST YOUR CONGRESSMEN TO INVITE ME TO FACE BP EXECUTIVES TO IMPLEMENT THIS SOLUTION AND END THE NIGHTMARE
Eng. Hodieb Khalifa
Cairo - Egypt
hodieb_khalifa yahoo