Do Dems Have the Right Stuff on Energy?

By Richard Martin, 8-28-08

	Caption: More of these, for less tax breaks

Tuesday night was Energy Night at the Democratic Convention and what a good night it was: while Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer blew the doors off the Pepsi Center with an impassioned plea to combat the “petrodictators” of the world, former Virginia governor Mark Warner, now running for Senate, delivered a lower-key, more reasoned argument for a balanced energy policy that includes limited new domestic production (including offshore drilling) and a sharp focus on shifting to renewables.

It was both good theater and sound thinking. But still, one has to wonder if the Democrats are really willing to muster the courage, and the votes, to push through a comprehensive energy policy that reduces dependence on fossil fuels, slows the advance of global climate change, and keeps gas and electricity affordable for most Americans. Even if Barack Obama is elected president, the power of the oil lobby and the realities of D.C. favor-trading mean that a new national program to promote clean energy is no sure thing.

As Wall Street Journal reporter Keith Johnson put it in Wednesday’s online Energy Roundup, “For all the speeches in Denver touting clean energy as the key to saving America’s economy and the future of the planet, there’s still one unmoveable object standing in the way: Congress.”

It was, after all, a Democratic-controlled Congress that has failed repeatedly (albeit under threat of a Republican filibuster) in the last year to extend the tax credits for renewable energy programs, which expire at the end of this year. It was also the current Congress that, in 2007, passed the watered-down Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, an utterly craven piece of legislation that failed to end the half-century of tax breaks and subsidies handed out to the oil industry.

Should Obama win and the Democrats, as many pundits think possible, achieve a filibuster-proof majority of 60 U.S. senators, the road will be open to creating a truly independent and secure energy policy that could direct the shift toward an economy based on renewable energy sources over the next two decades. Even then, though, don’t hold your breath.

The best hope, at the moment, is the so-called “Gang of 10” proposal authored by senators Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, a Republican, and Democrat Kent Conrad, from North Dakota. Supported by eight other senators (none from energy-producing states like Colorado or Wyoming), the Gang of 10 plan would trade a repeal of the moratorium on offshore drilling for increased for renewable energy sources, including extending the tax credits for wind, solar, and biofuels companies through 2012.

Filling the convention speaking slot that Obama used in 2004 to launch himself onto the national stage, Warner essentially rehearsed that proposal in front of the partisans in the hall and the millions watching on TV last night.

“Two wars, a warming planet, an energy policy that says let’s borrow money from China to buy oil from countries that don’t like us,” Warner said from the podium. “How many people look at these things and wonder what the future holds for them?”

“Our proposal is not perfect,” added Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) “but it is a bipartisan start on the road to a comprehensive energy strategy leading our nation to independence from foreign oil.”

Six more senators, three from each party, signed onto the plan this week. Neither presidential candidate has explicitly endorsed the Gang of 10 proposal. At a campaign stop in Wisconsin this week, according to The Wall Street Journal, Obama said he is “willing to consider offshore drilling, but that is not the long-term solution.”

The McCain campaign has indicated that the Arizona senator will oppose the plan on the grounds that it increases taxes.

In the West, where governors like Schweitzer and Bill Ritter, of Colorado, are attempting to create a new economy that builds strong renewable-energy businesses while continuing to exploit rich oil, natural gas and coal reserves in the Rockies, the need for a bold federal energy policy is felt especially acutely.

“We lack a national energy policy, to our detriment as a country,” Ritter said at a recent joint appearance with Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. “But the Western Governors’ Association has put together an energy plan that’s agnostic to whoever the next president is, and that we think is the best plan for this country.”

With provisions for protecting oil and gas producers while supporting new wind, solar, and other renewable sources, that plan looks a lot like the Gang of 10 program. The Democratic Party platform, adopted on Monday in Denver, contains similar proposals. According to polls, the U.S. public supports increased domestic oil production, including offshore drilling, but wants more research and development on clean energy production by even wider majorities.

So the stars are aligned. But the question remains, do the Democrats’ stars have the guts, and the muscle, to actually push forward a new energy agenda?