President Obama's Weekly Address

In his weekly address, President Obama praises the House of Representatives for passing "historic energy legislation." The bill passed the House 219 to 212. Only twelve Republicans voted for the bill - presumably the majority of House Republicans still don't understand the concept of "atmosphere." Among the others who voted against the bill were progressive Democrats like Dennis Kucinich, who explained his "no" vote by saying

It won't address the problem. In fact, it might make the problem worse.

It sets targets that are too weak, especially in the short term, and sets about meeting those targets through Enron-style accounting methods. It gives new life to one of the primary sources of the problem that should be on its way out– coal – by giving it record subsidies. And it is rounded out with massive corporate giveaways at taxpayer expense. There is $60 billion for a single technology which may or may not work, but which enables coal power plants to keep warming the planet at least another 20 years.

Worse, the bill locks us into a framework that will fail. Science tells us that immediately is not soon enough to begin repairing the planet. Waiting another decade or more will virtually guarantee catastrophic levels of warming. But the bill does not require any greenhouse gas reductions beyond current levels until 2030.

Today's bill is a fragile compromise, which leads some to claim that we cannot do better. I respectfully submit that not only can we do better; we have no choice but to do better. Indeed, if we pass a bill that only creates the illusion of addressing the problem, we walk away with only an illusion. The price for that illusion is the opportunity to take substantive action.

Not surprisingly, the President offered a slightly different take in his weekly address:

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a historic piece of legislation that will open the door to a clean energy economy and a better future for America. 

For more than three decades, we have talked about our dependence on foreign oil.  And for more than three decades, we have seen that dependence grow.  We have seen our reliance on fossil fuels jeopardize our national security.  We have seen it pollute the air we breathe and endanger our planet.  And most of all, we have seen other countries realize a critical truth:  the nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy.  

Now is the time for the United States of America to realize this too.  Now is the time for us to lead.  

The energy bill that passed the House will finally create a set of incentives that will spark a clean energy transformation in our economy.  It will spur the development of low carbon sources of energy – everything from wind, solar, and geothermal power to safer nuclear energy and cleaner coal.  It will spur new energy savings, like the efficient windows and other materials that reduce heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer.  And most importantly, it will make possible the creation of millions of new jobs. 

You can watch the full address below.