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As a self-proclaimed East Coast liberal intellectual who drinks Starbucks Grande Nonfat Decaf Lattes on a regular basis, I woke up this morning after the mid-term elections of 2010 with a heavy heart.
I thought to myself, as I took public transportation to my office from my energy efficient townhouse in Center City Philadelphia, what will happen to environmental policy in this country?
Now that the Republicans have the majority in the House, and spooked the pants off my latte-drinking bretheren on the left, has the green revolution been quashed before it even really got started? Surely cap-and-trade is off the table, and incentives for renewable energy and green building will be scrapped or allowed to sunset without renewal under the guise of "balancing the budget."
Reading the headlines did nothing to cheer me up. Politico calculated the cap-and-trade losses:
Nearly 30 (and counting) who cast ‘aye’ votes for Waxman-Markey were swept away on Tuesday’s anti-incumbent wave.
As I moped through my morning coffee, considering the appeal of starting a hedge fund or opening a high-end craft store (my secret dream), it slowly dawned on me that the mid-term elections had essentially changed nothing. Even with majorities in the Senate, the House AND the White House, cap-and-trade went nowhere.
Incentives are valuable for renewable energy projects and green buildings, but projects that depend entirely on incentives to pencil out are not sustainable in the long run. The incentives would have to end eventually, and this way Democrats will not be forced to make the hard decision about when and how to do it. They will not have to spend political capital and material resources on propping up or renewing stimulus incentives, but can instead devote their energy towards building the political climate which will embrace green.
Not that this helped my mood, but the world is still warming and there are still terrorists in the Middle East. The green revolution may have suffered a setback in yesterday's election, but the two essential underpinnings for the green revolution and moving to renewable energy have not changed.
Finally, perhaps this is a wake up call to recognize how hard the task of creating a green America really is. The winds of politics are very changeable, and the American people have priorities other than the environment. If Americans are not electing politicians who prioritize the environment, then the revolution has not yet come. Moreover, if the success of the green revolution depends entirely on who is in power politically, it is not a revolution at all. It is a pork project. To have a revolution, the hearts and minds of the people (to borrow a phrase) have to be changed, one person at a time.
That process is slow, and subject to lots of setbacks. Just ask Jimmy Carter.
This post originally appeared on the Green Building Law Blog and is reprinted with permission.
Images CC licensed by Flickr user trazomfreak.
Regardless of how you frame
Regardless of how you frame the debate, the political reality is how the pubic will interpret government pro-environmental actions as anti-middle class. When so many are unemployed, so many home loans are underwater, and all real estate developers are out of work, it will be nearly impossible to convince people to invest in green building techniques. The average Joe simply does not have the money available now to invest in his house, even given the long term payback. The long savings are also significantly less tangible than the check the homeowner has to cut to install new windows, insulation and CFLs. Companies are also unwilling to invest while there is so much uncertainty regarding potential large government regulations.
A carbon tax at the pump is also a non starter because that goes directly to the average American’s wallet. As badly as we need it, proposing a gas tax is political suicide. Conversely, as long as gas is cheap, SUVs will rule the roads, perpetuating the cycle.
In the last few years the public largely accepted the reality of global warming, lived through an oil price spike, survived Katrina, and witnessed the largest oil spill ever. If Obama couldn’t take advantage of these overwhelming, dramatic events to get meaningful energy legislation passed with complete control of Congress, there’s now way anything will happen now that the Republicans control the House. I’m buying oil stocks while they’re on the cheap.
Advice: Dont frame the
Advice: Dont frame the arguement on green, frame it on business value - energy reduction, brand protection, risk management, streamline supply chain etc. That will get business to act, regardless of their political stripes. And we dont need govt regulation to make it happen - that is the loud and clear message from the elections. And a lot is going to get taken off the table on government spending when we are borrowing 37 cents of every dollar the federal govt spends - THAT is unsustainable