Crude Awakenings

Ethan Strimling, All Towns

As the political world focused on Texas and Ohio earlier this week (“Super Tuesday, Part VII," I suppose), the New York Times editorial board cast an eye on the Energy Bill coming to the Senate, and, in an editorial called “The Senate Shills for Big Oil," the Times hit the nail on the head:

Last week, the House approved a new $17 billion package of credits, spread over 10 years, to encourage the development of renewable energy sources and to promote energy-efficient buildings and appliances.

As before, the House insisted that the credits be paid for by terminating an equivalent $17 billion in tax breaks over 10 years for oil and gas companies. And right on schedule, Senate Republicans began complaining that increasing industry’s taxes would discourage investment in domestic oil and gas production.

What will it take to wake the Senate up?

The Times explained the consequences of the Senate’s failure to promote alternative energy:

One of the major shortcomings in last year’s admirable energy bill was its failure to extend vital tax credits to producers of wind, solar and other renewable fuels. This was entirely the doing of the Senate, which caved in to the oil companies and their White House friends.

…

The damage was immediately apparent. New investment in clean, non-fossil-fuel energy sources — which need the help until they become competitive with older, dirtier energy sources — began to shrivel.

From what I can see, waking the Senate up is going to take two things: new Senators committed to environmental stewardship and leadership, and a House that’s persistent in fighting for a sensible energy policy that includes investment in alternative resources.

On the first point, we must start electing better Senators across the country. While here in Maine Senator Collins has recently started voting more in line with our environmental ethics, but Tom Allen has been a consistent advocate for the environment for over a decade in the House, and will serve our state proudly in the Senate. And strong candidates like Rick Noriega and Mark Warner, among others, will help us increase the support for environmentalism in the Senate and remove some of Washington’s biggest roadblocks to change.

On the second point, we need to press hard, and often, for stronger legislation not just to protect the planet from unsustainable and harmful practices like mountaintop removal (which I proudly join Rep. Frank Pallone, among others, in opposing), but also to promote proactive steps to reduce our future dependence on environmental destruction. Because, when you take a step back and look broadly at what our current energy policies do, you can see that our system is almost entirely based on creative destruction: we destroy Appalachia to increase coal production, we destroy nations and ecosystems to increase oil reserves, and we destroy the air we breathe to increase corporate profits. And the more the House makes the Senate Republicans defend the indefensible, the harder it will be for them to continue to resist public pressure for change.

We need a Congress that is committed to ending this radically irresponsible behavior. We have to start working hard to promote long-term energy solutions, and to discourage the destructive practices that have wrought so much damage already. The Senate should be eager to invest $17 billion in developing a sustainable future for our country, and just as eager to stop rewarding those who feed our addiction to line their pockets.

Here in Maine, I’ve spent my career in the State Senate working to create and expand alternative energy programs like the Redington Wind Mill Project, and to fight global warming through conservation measures like accelerating the phase-out of wasteful incandescent light bulbs.

During my time in public service, I’ve learned that there is no silver bullet on any issue, from ending poverty or providing universal health care to solving the climate crisis and protecting our environment. What we need is persistent effort and deep commitment from our elected officials to look for new ideas and approaches, and to push hard against the entrenched interests that would put their profits over our long-term needs.

In Congress, I’ll continue to work my hardest to advance real solutions for environmental issues, and I’ll never stop fighting against the culture of corporate protectionism that’s preventing necessary reforms from taking place.

Our place as the world’s technological leader is at stake, as is the welfare of future generations. We can’t let special interests continue to prevent our politicians from making the necessary changes that will protect our planet’s future. I hope that seeing oil trade at $105 per barrel will be enough to get the Senate to see that the oil companies don’t need another $17 billion giveaway, and that Americans need a cheaper, more reliable, more efficient source of energy.

Let’s hope they wake up in time.