Mainstream Media: Energy Policy Needs More Prominence

I got a high-quality rowing machine (Concept2) on Craig’s list yesterday, and have committed to daily use. It’s really the perfect tool for strength building and cardio simultaneously. But the reason I bring this up is that it will essentially force me to watch a bit of television, enabling me to keep up better with the coverage that the mainstream media affords various subjects of national and international importance.

Cooling down after my workout just now, I ask myself what I learned from 20 minutes or so in front of the Chris Matthews Show. Essentially, it’s that Obama has not done a good job in explaining himself and the actions he’s taken. While he was waiting for the stimulus package to take effect, he spent the majority of his political capital pushing through healthcare reform – a bill of dubious priority. The majority of Americans are angry with government, and the last think they want to see is more of it – in healthcare – or anyplace else. With the mid-term elections now only two months away, the Democrats are floundering to regain the trust of the electorate.

What does this mean in terms of renewable energy in the US? To me, it means this: don’t hold your breath. There are so many obvious actions related to energy policy that you or I would do if we were in charge, not one of which is anywhere close to happening.  Anyone of conscience acting independent of corruptive influence would start, I think, with these three:

1) Create a level playing field, removing the imbalance of subsidies that favors fossil fuels by a factor of 12:1, and accounting for externalities

2) Develop some version of federal renewable portfolio standard (RPS), probably looking at the country by region, and targeting specific adoption of solar, wind, geothermal, hydrokinetics, etc. accordingly

3) Be fair and honest in the allocation of stimulus money and other grants to businesses that actually can make a difference, vs. corporate behemoths that make huge campaign contributions

But let’s be realistic. The world of “what is right” and the world of political reality are galaxies apart. What can I infer from the fact that 20 minutes of analysis came and went in front of me – without a mention of the word “energy” even once? I think it’s pretty clear. If you’re looking for reform here, we have a lot of work in front of us if we’re going to elevate this issue to the position of prominence it needs to be.