Voters Don't Want Clueless Republicans in Exchange for Feckless Democrats
August 24, 2010
There are two conclusions that
can be drawn about the gaggle of Republican candidates who are
parroting the line that there is no proof that human activities are
linked to climate change.
The first is that political
correctness is a disease that both Democrats and Republicans can catch.
Dogmatic insistence that there is no evidence for links between fossil
fuel emissions and a changing climate is the Republican version of
political correctness.
The second is that shortfalls in
math and science education are much worse than we've been led to
believe. Candidates who lack even a passing acquaintance with the laws
of physics are the witless poster children for the need to strengthen
educational standards in America's schools.
It's
unfortunate that candidates such as Ron Johnson, running for a Senate
seat in Wisconsin, and Steve Pearce, running to win back the New Mexico
House seat that he lost in 2008, would rather mouth tiresome canards
than think for themselves.
The fact of the matter is that Americans want to hear creative ideas for untangling the knot of energy problems facing America.
One
such problem is what former President George W. Bush correctly called
our addiction to oil. Greenhouse gas emissions are only one of many
harmful consequence of that addiction.
Another was visible for the whole world to see this year in the Gulf of Mexico.
Another
is that unfriendly petro-regimes control the bulk of the world's oil
reserves. The five countries around the Persian Gulf alone hold proven
oil reserves that are 25 times the size of America's.
It's bad enough that our oil dependence enriches malefactors that spread violent extremism.
It
will be worse in the years ahead when surging demand in China and India
will give these regimes disproportionate influence over the world oil
market. We could drill, baby, drill until we drop from exhaustion, but
we would still be playing a sucker's game in which the petro-dictators
hold the high cards.
The Democrats have served up
cumbersome, overly bureaucratic approaches for expanding development of
safe, clean energy sources that don't wreak environmental havoc or
subject the U.S. to the whims of petro-dictators.
In spite
of their large congressional majorities and control of the White House,
the Democrats have failed to put America on the road to a cleaner,
safer energy future.
Republicans have an opportunity to
offer fresh, credible, Republican ideas that will protect the
environment and get America off the oil dependence treadmill. If only
they would seize it.
Instead, candidates like Johnson and
Pearce are content to serve up stale rhetoric, chase red herrings, and
demonstrate all too clearly that their grasp of America's energy
problems is as lacking as their understanding of climate science.
They
are missing the boat, mistaking the voters’ dissatisfaction with
feckless Democrats as a ringing endorsement of clueless Republicans.
America needs much more from GOP candidates than political correctness
and dunce cap science.
If Republican candidates want to
make use of the leadership opportunity that wary voters might hand them
in 10 weeks, they need to do a whole lot better than what we’ve been
hearing from Ron Johnson and Steve Pearce.
