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Day One

Posted by: Melissa Harrison -

Recently Mitt Romney rolled out two new ads touting what he plans to do on his first day on the job if elected President. Both are filled with some lofty goals to say the least, with the scariest part being that he may actually believe he accomplish all these tasks on day one.

For the sake of time, I will set aside the ad mentions of overturning the Affordable Care Act and introducing tax cuts/reforms and just focus on two of the big hitters, approving Keystone Pipeline and repealing job killing regulations.

In the midst of all the pomp and circumstance of the inaugural activities, these ads want us to believe that Mitt Romney will make approving the Keystone Pipeline and the repeal of regulations his top priorities. So even with all the other issues facing our country, he’s going to make building a pipeline that transports dirty tar sands oil from Canada, through highly sensitive areas of our country, to the already endangered Gulf Coast his first act as President? And as his next act he will repeal all the regulations he deems job killers? Will there be any regard for considering that some regulations are good, can actually create jobs and are meant to keep us safe? And the really pressing question, will this be before or after he picks out his power tie and presidential cufflinks for his ceremonial walk down Pennsylvania Avenue?

On one hand, these ads are hard to believe and can probably just be chalked up to campaign rhetoric and the willingness to make promises, which probably can’t be kept (especially since Congress doesn’t care about “Day One” or “Day Three Hundred”).  In fact, the only way he could probably make this kind of promise happen is if he pays for it to become a reality. 

The scary thing is that he could. These ads could be plausible because Romney is seeking counsel from the likes of Harold Hamm. Hamm, who serves as Romney’s top energy advisor, is the billionaire chairman and CEO of Continental Resources. And, just one month after assuming his role as energy advisor, contributed nearly $1 million to the pro-Romney Super PAC. Raising legitimate questions about his influence with candidate Romney and how those ties could benefit his company.

The saying goes “you are who you associate with.” For Mitt Romney this seems to be not only true, but could become our reality if he is given a day one. 

 

 

 

 

 

Lamenting Lugar’s Loss

Posted by: Wesley Warren -

In an age of politics bitterly fought along ideological lines, sensibility received another blow with the defeat of Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) by tea party backed candidate, Richard Mourdock. Lugar was someone who put the good of the nation and the needs of his constituents above party and ideology.  His defeat sends a bad signal to those who would like to see Washington come together to solve the nation’s most pressing issues.

In politics, the center is the place where people get together to work out differences. It’s not so much a spot between the left and the right as it is a willingness to get things done.  Many praise Lugar’s record of bipartisanship but let’s face it, he was no moderate. In fact, in 2010 he received a 100% rating from the Chamber of Commerce and a 91% from the National Taxpayers Union. His conservative outlook extended to his views on energy and the environment as the League of Conservation Voters gave him a rating of 0% in this same year.  And he didn’t lose because he was too moderate but mainly because he had lived away from Indiana too long, literally and figuratively.  Hoosiers wanted a new face.

Yet despite his conservative values, he was a sensible man. He was someone with which you could exchange ideas and who was willing to work across the aisle to solve problems. Lugar built his career on arms control, securing our nation from international threat but was also concerned with the United State’s energy security. The Lugar Practical Energy Plan promised better job-creating economic growth, U.S. global competitiveness, and environmental stewardship through more productive use of energy in transportation and electricity.   To this end he was committed to increasing energy efficiency and encouraging the use of alternative energy sources. He even went so far as to vote for Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act in 2003.

We should all lament Lugar’s defeat as he joins the ranks of other sensible Republican leaders who have recently left or are leaving Congress including Congressman Michael Castle (R-DE) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME).   In fact, Snowe cited the extreme partisanship in Congress as one of her reasons for retirement.  NRDC Action Fund staffer Bob Deans has recently published the book Reckless: The Political Assault on the American Environment, illustrating how detrimental extreme partisanship has been for environmental policies in the 112th Congress.

This year voters will have a chance to send a message about how they want their leaders to run the country.  Here’s to hoping that message will be for them to return to sensibility.

IN Primary: Loss of Moderates No Good for Governing or the Environment

Posted by: Melissa Harrison -

Long-time Senator Richard Lugar lost to Tea Party darling Richard Mourdock in Tuesday’s Indiana Republican primary contest. In a legislative body like the Senate where compromise and bipartisanship have long been necessary, this is another blow for getting things done.

In recent years, the upper chamber has lost – due to primary challenges, general election losses or resignations attributed to frustration with polarization – a number of moderates, including Olympia Snowe, Evan Bayh and John Warner. These Senators were often willing to buck their party leaders and cross the aisle on issues like climate change and energy security, forging the coalitions necessary to pass legislation.

Although not a central reason for why Lugar lost , Mourdock had criticized Lugar’s associations with groups like the Alliance to Save Energy and the Brookings Institution’s Energy Security Initiative. That’s because these groups had the nerve to endorse comprehensive energy legislation that would have dramatically improved the efficiency of our nation’s buildings and appliances while reducing costs. They also supported policies to reduce our dependence on foreign oil which increases our national security and protects our troops. All issues which should not be polarized by partisanship.

In his lengthy concession statement, Lugar focused on the costs of partisan politics and the need for elected officials to study the issues and sometimes take a different view than their party. He said,

“Too often bipartisanship is equated with centrism or deal cutting. Bipartisanship is not the opposite of principle. One can be very     conservative or very liberal and still have a bipartisan mindset. Such a mindset acknowledges that the other party is also patriotic and may have some good ideas. It acknowledges that national unity is important, and that aggressive partisanship deepens cynicism, sharpens political vendettas, and depletes the national reserve of good will that is critical to our survival in hard times.”

Protecting public health and our environmental safeguards not only confronts Congress on a daily basis, it is also moving front and center in the 2012 elections. At the same time, new science suggests that the consequences of inaction on climate change could be more severe than we had previously imagined and today renowned climate scientist James Hansen wrote a scathing editorial in the New York Times calling for serious action to be taken.

Lugar is correct to point out that the inability to work across party lines threatens our ability to address this and other challenges. That’s why the NRDC Action Fund is a nonpartisan organization working to rebuild the environmental majority regardless of party affiliation. We want to remind candidates that you can run on clean energy and protecting public health and the environment, because it’s what Americans really want from their leaders.

 Mother Nature is not registered with a political party. She’s just looking for all the help she can get.

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