At a Capitol Hill event yesterday previewing the pending House vote on the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act, Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) skewered Newt Gingrich and his friends in Big Oil. "'Drill, baby, drill,' is Flintstones technology," Rep. Doyle told a roaring crowd. "This is about the future technology and it's technology that's going to be kept here in the United States of America."But in his constituent newsletter this week, Rep. Frank Wolf signaled he may be siding with the Flintstones crowd on the ACES vote. That may only be appropriate, since Rep. Wolf also seems to want to roll back the clock on recent elections:
I was very disappointed to see that the House majority leadership placed this over 1,000-page bill on a fast track without bipartisan involvement and with arbitrary deadlines for the nine committees of jurisdiction to hold hearings and debate the provisions.We've known about the consequences of global warming and the need to cut carbon emissions for more than 20 years. How long does Rep. Wolf need to sort this out? And considering how Republican leadership treated Democrats during the DeLay years, it's pretty funny that now that the tables have turned, Rep. Wolf has suddenly found religion on bipartisanship.
I don’t think there is any fair-minded person who disputes the fact that the U.S. must reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and curtail the air polluting effect of those fuels. I support the development of clean energy resources to fuel our cars, power our homes and businesses and cut carbon emissions ...Awesome! So what's your solution, Frank?
... and am cosponsoring legislation that taps into our domestic resources and dedicates funding toward research and development of renewable and alternative energy. But I am very concerned about the unintended consequences that may come with the "cap-and-trade" plan now before the House, especially the potential costs to consumers and the effect on jobs in today’s economic downturn.So your big plan to get us on clean energy is ... drill baby drill with token clean energy incentives and no benchmarks for success? Really? That's the bold vision? I mean, while you're at it, why not just give us some weak-kneed mumbo jumbo about how America is too timid to be a world leader?
Part of that process also must be the recognition that the problem of greenhouse gas emissions just isn’t confined within the borders of our country. It’s a global problem, especially when we see China’s increased reliance on polluting fuels and its share of global carbon emissions continuing to increase.Ugh. Nevertheless, apparently conservatives are freaking out Rep. Wolf might actually vote for ACES. If you're in Rep. Wolf's district, can you give his DC office a call to see where he stands on the bill? The number is (202) 225-5136. Be sure to leave a comment to let us know what you hear.
