There's been a lot of tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth lately about the utter helplessness of the Obama Administration to even pretend to do something about the accelerating climate catastrophe.
And it's true. But, ummmm.... nobody is talking about what we do now.
I have a few suggestions.
Thing 1: NRDC, EDF, and Gore’s climate money machine need to just stop. The environmental compromise groups dropped a half-billion dollars on trying to bring along the forces of evil in a Federal arena, and at the end of the day the same corporate whores who made nice to them behind closed doors hung them out to dry.
Thing 2: Leave DC. There is simply no point in trying to accomplish anything at a Federal level for the remainder of Obama’s presidency. He is not the person we voted for, and he never will be. He is Clinton II, in a vastly more complicated and dangerous world. Presumably, he will be succeeded by Bush III, followed by Clinton III. Meanwhile, the world will go off a cliff if we don’t get busy.
Thing 3: Take all of that talent, and the next half-billion dollars, and devote it to the targets of opportunity that we can win. For example, the three Pacific Coast states and several Northeast states are already technically committed to hitting the climate change reduction goals that we need to hit if the planet isn’t going to sizzle like a sausage. In all of those states, there are huge constituencies who want to do the right thing. Having extinguished all hope at a Federal level, the forces of darkness are turning their evil gaze towards crushing all resistance in the states and cities that are beginning to actually do the right thing. We can, and must, defeat them before their poison can trickle down.
Thing 4: Systematically do what Republicans have done so successfully for decades – identify the targets of opportunity for pushing the noodle forward. Build the capacity to respond instantly to every emerging opportunity with a relentless drumbeat of how to do it right. Release the hounds. Obama threw away the constituency of the century when he told the tens of millions of people who had sacrificed and suffered to get him elected to go home and wait for instructions from their refrigerator, instead of helping to consolidate a progressive victory. Those people are still out there, and they still want to make a difference.
Thing 5: Intervene in every state and local hearing, administrative proceeding, regulatory case, court case, and legislative process that has anything to do with climate. Even though state and local governments have committed to do the right thing, energy corporations and the suckup big-box environmental groups who love them are busy making sure that nothing is actually going to get done in time to make a difference. We need to let the brave government officials who are serious about doing the right thing know that we have their back, and let the ones who pander to evil know that we’ve got their number.
We have the hearts and minds of tens of millions of people. Money is not a problem. Capacity to fight evil and win is not a problem. Let’s get started.