A Week of Words And Action on Energy and Climate

This week, energy and the environment took central stage from the fields of Iowa to the halls of Congress. Between Earth Day celebrations and Capitol Hill marathon briefings, it was all a bit dizzying. And, while not all of the news was perfect, there were many signs of the growing momentum for bold action on energy and climate.

Here's a re-cap of some of this week's highlights and some of the most memorable words that we heard and read:

For Earth Day, President Obama highlighted the economic opportunities around clean energy and global warming solutions.

President Obama said: "The choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy. The choice we face is between prosperity and decline. We can remain the world's leading importer of oil, or we can become the world's leading exporter of clean energy." 

In Roll Call, Representative Sherrod Brown wrote a column, including the line: "Inaction is not an option" (See NRDC's Climate Director, Dan Lashof's blog on it. )

He went on to say: "If we care about the world in which we live and the generations that will follow us, then we must no longer dismiss the lethal risks global warming poses to our planet. We must craft an aggressive strategy to combat global warming, and we must do it now."

Business leaders, part of the group Environmental Entrepreneurs (www.E2.org) came to Washington to push the case for clean energy as an economic engine.

The CEO of SynGest and E2 member Jack Oswald was quoted in the Washington Post , saying, "What's going to give us the ability to expand as rapidly as possible is carbon legislation."   

On the flip side, Politico ran a story that examined the opposition's approach to global warming, calling it 'schizophrenic.'

The title says it all: "GOP grapples with climate confusion."

And here's another key line: "Outside the Capitol, business groups - a key Republican constituency - are fractured in their opposition to climate change legislation."

Finally, Senator John Warner (VA- retired) testified to Congress about the importance of climate change from a national security perspective.

As he put it: "Global climate change has the potential, if left unchecked, of adding missions to the already heavy burdens of our military and other elements of our nation's overall national security."

So, what are we to think about all of these words? To me, it says that, after a long delay, Washington is moving again on clean energy and global warming. More and more business leaders, economists, and even politicians are recognizing that the right environmental decisions are the right economic ones.

To close it out, here are NRDC's President Frances Beinecke words from Earth Day: "With a president who shares our environmental priorities, a Congress poised to take action, and business leaders increasingly aware of the opportunity presented by a clean energy economy -- we have the tools to repower America."

 (Thanks to Eric Young who contributed to this entry.)