The outspoken "NY Times" columnist, Tom Friedman, takes some serious shots here, Dumb as We Wanna Be, at two of the three Presidential candidates for their recommendation on suspending the 18.4¢ a gallon federal excise tax on gasoline during the heavy summer driving season coming up. "The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: "Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.'" Ouch.
Mr. Friedman has hit it fairly close to right on the button, but he also takes a shot at Congress for not renewing tax credits for renewable energy. It should be noted that the question of the tax credits for renewables has, for all intents and purposes, been settled now by both houses of Congress I wrote about this here on April 15 – a good day to be writing about these things.
Also, to say, as Mr. Friedman does, "We have no energy strategy," is incorrect. The present Congress has significantly altered course from the recent past by passing the somewhat extraordinary "Energy Security and Independence Act" in December of this past year. It's not everything – a renewable portfolio standard is missing, for instance – but it's a dang sight better than we've had. See It's A Wrap from December.
I believe that the next Congress, presumably more heavily loaded with Democrats than the present one, will continue moving on the track toward a low and zero-carbon energy policy. (I am not being partisan in this, merely noting facts. The present Congress has been fiercely divided by party on energy, particularly in the Senate.)
It is good, as far as I'm concerned, to note further that any of the three remaining Presidential candidates will, as President, be on board for much of this agenda of increasing efficiency, decreasing reliance on fossil fuels, increasing growth in renewables, and generally fostering progress toward a world vastly better suited to sustainable development and saving our climate system.
