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How the Dem candidates should answer the question on energy independence

Posted by David Roberts at 12:34 PM on 13 Dec 2007

Read more about: presidential race 08 | politics | elections | energy | international politics

I'm not watching the Dem debate in Iowa right now, so I pass the mic to former Gristie Kate Sheppard, who reports on candidate answers to a question about energy independence, which was framed, as always, in terms of its alleged high cost:

Biden, up first, says, "The president has to make this a moral crusade for the American people." Richardson says we need to raise fuel efficiency standards to 50 miles a gallon, not 35, and reduce consumption of oil by 50 percent. He also mentioned investing in mass transit, the only of the candidates to do so. "This has to be an energy revolution lead by a president," said Richardson. Dodd touted himself as the only candidate who advocated a corporate carbon tax. "Cheaper fuel is always going to win out, unfortunately," he says. Clinton says that the energy transition will require "a new form of American patriotism," in which people are proud to make sacrifices and back the necessary efforts to transition. Obama called it "a moral imperative." "The next president has to be able to tell the American not just what they want to hear, but what they need to hear," he said.

Ugh. High costs. Sacrifice. Suck it up, America, it's a "moral crusade," so open up your wallet. Take your medicine.

This is awful, awful framing. The public might buy this if people were feeling secure and optimistic, but in a time of growing anxiety, it's going to fall flat.

Here's a better answer:

Well, weird robotic moderator woman, I object to the way you've framed the question. The real question is, what does it cost to stay dependent on fossil fuels? What is it costing us to keep thousands of our troops in the Middle East to secure oil supplies? What's it costing us to send a substantial chunk of our GDP into the coffers of nations that mean us harm? What's it costing us to treat millions of kids with asthma? What's it costing us to poison children in the womb with mercury? What's it costing us to blow up our Appalachian mountains? What's it costing us to heat up the atmosphere and deal with the ensuing storms, droughts, floods, and migrations?

The costs of dependence on fossil fuel -- the full costs, in health, in national security, in environmental destruction -- have never been fully accounted for, but they are likely greater than anyone imagines. It is an ongoing drain on our national vitality and a stain on our national character. Freeing ourselves from fossil fuels is just that -- freedom. I don't want Americans to sacrifice and live in cold, dark caves. I don't want to cripple the economy, I want to free it, to revitalize it. I want Americans to come together to fight for a happier, healthier, more prosperous national future, just as they always have. This is our next great challenge, and unlike so many people in the Beltway, Americans are eager to take it on.

A boy can dream, right?

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And on climate change...McCain

In the latest GOP debate, McCain had an answer about climate change that I like a lot, that frames the response in terms of our kids' future:
"Suppose that climate change is not real, and all we do adopt green technologies, which our economy and our technology is perfectly capable of. Then all we've done is given our kids a cleaner world. But suppose they are wrong. Suppose they are wrong, and climate change is real, and we've done nothing. What kind of a planet are we going to pass on to the next generation of Americans? It's real. We've got to address it. We can do it with technology, with cap-and- trade, with capitalist and free enterprise motivation. And I'm confident that we can pass on to our children and grandchildren a cleaner, better world."

via The Carpetbagger Report

by meander at 1:05 PM on 13 Dec 2007

Why...

... do the Democratic candidates for President refuse to lead?

Dave's answer clearly indicates he -- yes, David Roberts -- should be helping someone come up with rational policies and finding ways to present them to the average voter. The first candidate to add Dave to his or her staff and allow him to write a few speeches would immediately rise several points in the polls. There is not a single Democrat -- or Republican -- candidate for President who actually has what I might refer to as VISION!

John Kerry was a disappointment. He missed soooooo many opportunities to make George W. Bush and the rest of the Republican Party look like the hypocrites and threats to natitonal security that they are. Was he TRYING to lose the election?

Is the current Democratic Party TRYING to lose the Presidential election?! There are innumerable examples of Republicans harming America and, I think, innumerable opportunities for Democrats to take advantage of such opportunities to destroy their opponents -- without destroying each other -- long before the November election.

An excellent feature on Grist might be a collection of campaign speeches written by Grist contributors and focusing on their area of interest. How about it? I'd like to read examples of what YOU would want a candidate to say... please be realistic and realize you would be talking to -- not with, unfortunately -- an average American voter. Maybe someone out there will follow your advice and lead America into a better future instead of building a bridge to the 19th century.

Good job, Dave!

by wiscidea at 2:58 PM on 13 Dec 2007

Food for thought on themes and memes

Ok, very quickly, as we're making dinner for the family right now:

The message needs to do two things, one of which David mentioned:

remind people of the destructiveness of dependence on foreign oil, and the need to blow off mountaintops to mine coal;
focus on inspiring people to bringing back good old American technical innovation and create green jobs, both white collar and blue collar.

That means letting them know that Japan and Europe have grabbed the comparative technological advantage in clan energy (wind and solar), and inspire them to believe that we need to take back the lead and bring those green jobs here.

That way we capture patriotism (might as well use it positively as opposed to gagging on how it's wielded now), and job growth.

Somebody eloquent please do something with that. Van Jones, are you out there? I've gotta go check the sweet potatoes.

by GreenMom at 3:46 PM on 13 Dec 2007

Stress...

...national security

...good jobs

...good for families

...American leadership, freedom, independence

Why don't voters get it???!!!

Deep down, we are a bunch of isolationists who really want to watch football, drink beer, and be left alone... I think. (Though I prefer to read a book, drink beer, and be left alone.)

by wiscidea at 3:59 PM on 13 Dec 2007

Edwards had some good lines

At the presidential candidates' climate change forum, John Edwards had some good lines on the subject of green tech and jobs:

Right now, we're sitting by the side of the road, as foreign companies race ahead with developing green technology. Bell Labs invented the solar cell in New Jersey in 1954, but today, 90 percent of solar panels are manufactured overseas. China's even produced a solar billionaire. General Motors made the first modern electric car, but today, Toyota and Honda lead the world in producing hybrids. Just last week, I saw this headline: 'Foreign Firms Envision Windfarms Dotting The U.S.'
...
Why should foreign firms be the ones taking the lead in building windfarms here in America. Why is that not being done by American firms?
...
If we take the steps that I propose, American entrepreneurs and manufacturers can lead the world in developing the green technology we need to generate clean, reliable energy and to use it more efficiently.

(source: Living on Earth)

by meander at 10:18 PM on 13 Dec 2007

Source also ...

here.

grist.org

by David Roberts at 10:48 PM on 13 Dec 2007

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