Commentary

As environmental disaster unfolds, the time is right to pass energy bill

by Gary Botzek

The BP oil spill is the greatest environmental disaster in history. It has put our country's energy polices and practices back on the front page.

Local leaders called on Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar earlier this month to put pressure on other members of the U.S. Senate to make climate change legislation a priority yet this year. At a press conference with the Mississippi River in the background, conservation, environment, veterans, transit, and legislative leaders used the mighty river to stress the commercial value of the river, as well as its natural beauty, to argue for stronger protection of our rivers, oceans, and lands from the risks of traditional energy sources, including oil drilling and coal mining.

Public support for comprehensive clean energy legislation remains strong. According to a new national poll by Benenson Strategy Group, 61 percent of 2010 voters support a bill that limits pollution, invests in domestic energy sources, and encourages companies to develop clean energy. There is also wide support for action among business, national security, environmental, labor, faith-based and veterans' organizations. This broad coalition believes that the bipartisan-supported legislation signifies a major step forward, and that the Senate should act now.

"While we sit here on top of the watershed we have a special responsibility to our fellow Americans downstream, as well as our children and grandchildren, to make sure that the river we pass along is healthy and fully support the human and natural communities that depend on it," said Whitney Clark, executive director of Friends of the Mississippi River.

"The climate bill's provisions on transportation take us in the right direction, cutting global warming pollution by investing in fuel saving transportation infrastructure," said Andrea Kiepe, Minnesota field organizer for Transportation For America. "Transportation must be part of the solution, since it accounts for nearly 30 percent of global warming pollution in the U.S. and is responsible for 70 percent of the oil we use," she added.

Just last week, Franken and Klobuchar voted against a resolution that would have removed EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases. The resolution failed on a 53-47 vote. This debate and vote are considered a trial balloon for a comprehensive energy and climate control bill that could pass yet this legislative session.

Note that 53 votes is short of the 60 needed to stop a filibuster. But the outcome does allow leadership to focus on senators who may be able to switch sides. Minnesotans should hope that Franken and Klobuchar continue to display the strong leadership that they exhibited on the EPA resolution to get to a comprehensive energy and climate control bill.

If we are going to provide a cleaner energy future and a stronger and more prosperous country, the time to act is now.

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Gary Botzek is executive director of the Minnesota Conservation Federation, which describes itself as "a common sense conservation organization made up of hunters, anglers and others who are dedicated to the enjoyment, education and ethical use of our natural resources."