Obama’s Oval Speech and Climate Change Legislation

Obama’s Oval Speech and Climate Change Legislation

Darrel Moellendorf: Obama’s Speech and Climate Change Legislation

Remarkably, President Obama did not at all use his first Oval Office speech on Tuesday night to encourage climate change legislation in the Senate. There was passing reference to the Waxman-Markey bill passed last year in the House, but nothing of Kerry-Lieberman, pending in the Senate. In the dismal wake of the worst oil spill ever, and in the context of international climate change negotiations that are in a desperate state, the president could not bring himself to urge the Senate to pass a bill that would require CO2 emissions reductions.

The list of welcome suggestions that others might make went like this:

So I’m happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party ? as long as they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development ? and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.

But some have also wondered when the United States is going to get really serious about reducing CO2 emissions, when it is going to present an inspiring vision of a different way of generating energy, of doing business, of planning cities, of transporting people and goods, and of negotiating with the rest of the world about climate change. After President Obama?s first Oval Office address, I?m left still wondering.