We All Go Down Together

Complacency is a far more dangerous attitude than outrage
—Naomi Littlebear

…and in the end, complacency and self-interest ruled. Re-election campaign funds, local concerns tied to a fossil of a fuel industry, loyalty to party despite all common sense and compelling evidence of need; these were what ruled. We should note the date: December 13, 2007. It was on the morning of this day that the U.S. Senate failed by a single vote to include a tax title in the 2007 energy bill, ending the prospect of government support for renewable energy in America for the foreseeable future.

How will historians look back on, and write about, this episode in years to come? They may have difficulty in convincing their readers that, in the face of overwhelming evidence of destructive climate change, at a time of peak oil, and on the day conferees departed the Bali Global Warming conference vowing to fight climate change, the U.S. voted once more to fight the rest of the world instead.

No, that’s not overstating the case. For years, Australia shared the odium of being a non-signatory to the Kyoto treaty with the United States; as of this week, we hold that position in glorious isolation, apparently constitutionally incapable of seeing what the rest of the world sees clearly, and legislatively powerless to overcome our own complacency.

What’s left of the Congressional energy bill after almost a full year of development, debate, conferring and compromise will lead to eventual improvements in average fuel economy standards for automobiles and increased renewable fuel production, among other lesser benefits. But what was left out will lead to outcomes that should have been obvious to every Congressperson:

• The stumbling growth of the solar energy industry will be set back just when distributed clean generation is needed most; many solar entrepreneurs could be forced out of business.
• Much-needed large-scale renewable energy projects in the planning stage will be jeopardized by uncertainty over funding and viability.
• Citizens and businesses looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint by investing in solar energy cannot count on a cent of government help.
• Foreign companies will continue to grow in strength and market share, making it next to impossible for American companies to have an impact in global markets.

In the USA, we like to voice our pride in our democratic system—checks and balances, proportional representation, and the ability to compromise on legislation. But the raw fact is that what we’ve always considered the strengths of our system are, in terms of the exigencies of planetary sustainability, fatal weaknesses. We cannot compromise on global warming mitigation, and a quick look around the world shows us that no-one else feels that way. We certainly cannot bow yet again to the demands of big oil, yet that is exactly what Congress has done today. That arm of government has shown itself incapable of governing from any platform except complacency.

You can read the full voting record on the tax title provisions (59-40, one vote short of cutting off debate) at the end of this article. Before doing so, you might note how two specific senators voted (or didn’t):

1. John McCain, R-AZ, failed to cast a vote.
2. Mary Landrieu, D-LA, was the only Democrat who voted against the tax title. Her reasoning? The bill “left Louisiana and America’s Energy Coast holding the bill.”

McCain’s apparent indecisiveness is difficult to rationalize for a presidential candidate from a state with perhaps more solar resources than any other. And to judge by Landrieu’s remarks, one can only conclude that she feels she has served her Louisiana constituents well; that they will take comfort from the knowledge that, as a result of her vote, all of America—not to mention the planet—is holding the bill.

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Republican Senators Voting ‘Nay’ on Cloture Vote for Energy Bill Tax Title

Stevens (AK), Sessions, Shelby (AL), Kyl (AZ), Allard (CO), Martinez (FL)
Chambliss, Isakson (GA), Craig, Crapo (ID), Brownback, Roberts (KS)
Bunning, McConnell (KY), Vitter (LA), Bond (MO), Cochran, Lott (MS)
Burr, Dole (NC), Hagel (NE), Gregg, Sununu (NH), Domenici (NM)
Ensign (NV), Voinovich (OH), Coburn, Inhofe (OK), Specter (PA)
DeMint, Graham (SC), Alexander, Corker (TN), Cornyn, Hutchison (TX)
Bennett (UT), Warner (VA), Barrasso, Enzi (WY)

Republican Senators Not Voting on Energy Bill Cloture Vote

McCain (AZ)

Democratic Senators Voting ‘Nay’ on Cloture Vote for Energy Bill Tax Title

Landrieu (LA)