Getting Real (The Hidden Friedman)

Ever the middle-man, Tom Friedman highlights a split on the right from the oil-sopped BushCo energy policy in his Wednesday column, A New Grip on 'Reality' (fully available to Times Select subscribers):

One of the most important laws of political debate is this: To name something is to own it. If you can name something, get that name to stick and therefore define how people think about an issue, your opponents don't stand a chance. One of the most pernicious things that Vice President Dick Cheney and Big Oil have done for years is to define "realism" when it comes to U.S. energy policy — and therefore they have owned the debate.

Well, here's what's encouraging today. There is a split emerging among conservatives on this issue. Not all conservatives are in the pocket of Big Oil. Many evangelicals, led by people like Gary Bauer, are going green — both because they believe that we need to be better stewards of God's green earth and because they don't like being dependent for energy on countries that nurse a deep hostility toward the United States.

One of the best speeches I've ever read about the necessity of breaking America's oil addiction now, and redefining "realism," was delivered by Senator Richard Lugar, the Republican who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at the Brookings Institution on March 13.

You can get it in full (in PDF format) from this Brookings page. But, back to Tom, who culls the following from the speech:

"For decades, the energy debate in this country has pitted so-called pro-oil realists against idealistic advocates of alternative energy. The pro-oil commentators have attempted to discredit alternatives by saying they make up a tiny share of energy consumed and that dependence on oil is a choice of the marketplace.

"They assert that our government can and should do little to change this. They have implied that those who have bemoaned oil dependency do not understand that every energy alternative comes with its own problems and limitations."

While acknowledging that the oil alternatives still require a huge amount of work in order to achieve the necessary scale, Mr. Lugar insists that with a big strategic push we can, and must, get there: "My message is that the balance of realism has passed from those who argue on behalf of oil and a laissez-faire energy policy that relies on market evolution, to those who recognize that in the absence of a major reorientation in the way we get our energy, life in America is going to be much more difficult in the coming decades. ... No one who is honestly assessing the decline of American leverage around the world due to our energy dependence can fail to see that energy is the albatross of U.S. national security.

"We have entered a different energy era that requires a much different response than in past decades. What is needed is an urgent national campaign, led by a succession of presidents and Congresses, who will ensure that American ingenuity and resources are fully committed to this problem."

Dick Cheney regularly dismisses liberals for having a "pre-9/11" mind-set, as opposed to tough guys like him, who have a "post-9/11" mind-set. Hogwash! When it comes to energy, there is no one more pre-9/11, no one more stuck in keeping America addicted to foreign oil, than Dick Cheney.

Speaking of national leaders taking on greener energy posturing, it seems that Britain's Gordon Brown (currently the Chancelor of the Exchequer and widely seen as Labour's replacement to Tony Blair for Prime Minister) is planning to announce a new tax on SUVs, which The Independent notes are "scornfully nicknamed 'Chelsea tractors' due to their size and increasing prevalence on chic, urban streets." (FYI - Chelsea is one of the poshest areas of London, and the soccer club that takes its name is equally posh and hard-nosed... so no jokes about the mighty Chels! Also, I have no idea what "swingeing" means in the Independent's headline - any help would be greatly appreciated.) Britain's Channel 4 news has the following bit:

The chancellor is considering a proposal from the RAC Foundation to create a new £200 top rate of vehicle excise duty, covering cars that produce more than 250g of carbon dioxide per kilometre. At the same time, the Foundation wants the chancellor to combine the increase with tax cuts for more environmentally friendly cars.
[...]
The move follows energy minister Malcolm Wicks recently speaking of wanting to counter the 'crass irresponsibility' of those who drive large 4x4s around the suburbs.

This is just the kind of thing that Mr. Friedman and Senator Lugar are talking about, and something I'm very much in favor of--and not just because I drive a tiny Honda that gets well over 30 MPG. We need real carrots and sticks to get industry thinking of better products and consumers to start testing the waters that will get industry to embrace the marketability of smaller, more efficient vehicles. And government needs to be the arbiter of the carrots and sticks.

Speaking of which, here's some more from Lugar's speech:

Automakers have a central role to play in improving our oil efficiency. We are working to close the SUV CAFE standards loophole, and to get more hybrids and flex-fuel vehicles on the road. A fleet of hybrid, and future plug-in hybrids, that run on E85 could reduce our oil use by 10 million barrels a day. The bill I have co-sponsored removes the cap on the number of tax rebates for hybrid vehicles. It also fosters demand by requiring that 30 percent of the government auto fleet be hybrids and advanced diesels. With increased demand for fuel efficient cars, new manufacturing facilities will be built that provide jobs for Americans.

In partnership with the American auto industry, we should provide a set of incentives that give them the opportunity to regain their strength and save jobs through innovation. This bill offers a 35 percent tax credit for automakers to retool their factories so that they can make fuel efficient, advanced technology vehicles.