I'm not a huge fan of Tom Friedman, dating back to his columns that gave Bush cover at the start of the Iraq invasion, but he's always been a strong advocate of green energy. Today's column highlights Gov. Perry's obtuse dismissal of global warming as Texas burns.
Thanks Mr. Perry and Mrs. Bachmann, but we really are all stocked up on crazy right now. I mean, here is the Texas governor rejecting the science of climate change while his own state is on fire — after the worst droughts on record have propelled wildfires to devour an area the size of Connecticut. As a statement by the Texas Forest Service said last week: “No one on the face of this earth has ever fought fires in these extreme conditions.”
Remember the first rule of global warming. The way it unfolds is really “global weirding.” The weather gets weird: the hots get hotter; the wets wetter; and the dries get drier.
The man is running for president. Let's make sure that the drought in Texas and the raging wildfires remain part of the conversation. But it's noteworthy that Friedman also takes the president to task for failing to support green energy and jobs.
President Obama's initial Green Jobs proposal in 2009 was a great start, but in the face of opposition he let it get away from him. That's a shame because this is an issue that the public increasingly supports.
Direct federal spending nurtures all kinds of local businesses that create jobs. Sadly, as Friedman points out, the opposite is happening:
Not only has the science of climate change come under attack lately, so has the economics of green jobs. Here the critics have a point — sort of. I wasn’t surprised to read that the solar panel company Solyndra, which got $535 million in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy to make solar panels in America, filed for bankruptcy protection two weeks ago and laid off 1,100 workers. This story is an embarrassment to the green jobs movement, but the death by bankruptcy was a collaboration of the worst Democratic and Republican impulses.
How so? There is only one effective, sustainable way to produce “green jobs,” and that is with a fixed, durable, long-term price signal that raises the price of dirty fuels and thereby creates sustained consumer demand for, and sustained private sector investment in, renewables. Without a carbon tax or gasoline tax or cap-and-trade system that makes renewable energies competitive with dirty fuels, while they achieve scale and move down the cost curve, green jobs will remain a hobby.
Back in 2009, the president had bold plans for green jobs. Today, you have to search to find them in his jobs speech.
Maybe that's the political reality, but I don't think so. A green jobs agenda is a winner, politically. It's a win-winner actually. People need jobs, people need energy, and people care about the environment. Okay, so that's Win-Win-Win.
So while we're asking Perry why Texas is burning, let's be sure to ask about green jobs too. They're an excellent point of contrast between the forward-leaning Democrats and the party of antiquity. Green jobs are in the president's plan if you look for them, and he's clearly thinking about it. Once folks hear the details they'll be eager to get on board.
Meanwhile, if you'd like to provide support for victims of the Texas fires, you can contribute here.