A new catch phrase for energy jobs

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi attended the Maryland Democratic Party breakfast Wednesday morning. There was a reason for that: Baltimore is her birthplace, and she is the daughter of former Baltimore mayor Thomas D’Allesandro. She is also a much more compelling speaker in person than on camera, and she had some really tough words on our energy crisis.

She was unequivocal in saying, “ ‘Drill, drill, drill’ is the mantra of the handmaidens of big oil,” and “Offshore drilling is the biggest hoax perpetrated on the American public.” Personally I was pleased to hear that, because the national news had seemed to suggest that the Democrats may cave on the offshore drilling issue.

“Green-collar jobs” was also a phrase used in the breakfast talk. Because it was an unusual phrase, I looked it up on Google and found that I had missed hearing it in Hillary Clinton’s convention speech.

Time magazine also had a piece a while ago explaining what the phrase means to the candidates and what it tries to convey to the public. The main point by the Democrats seems to be that these are the jobs of the future and are the sort of jobs that cannot be shipped overseas.

But after digging into the Obama website to find out more specific details to account for the 5 million green-collar jobs mentioned in yesterday’s posting [add link], I was disappointed to find little in the way of specifics, and what I did find includes a reliance on clean coal technology to come up with the figure. I knew that Obama had supported so-called clean coal as a state legislator, but it figures more prominently in the 5 million total than I had expected. If carbon sequestration is ever perfected and we can mine coal without mountain-top removal or other monstrous degradation to the environment, then I might be for it. After all, the US is the “Saudi Arabia of coal.” Clean coal would certainly reduce our dependence on oil, but right now I see it as a distraction from developing renewable energy technologies.

From Obama’s website:

Create Millions of New Green Jobs

• Ensure 10% of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012 and 25% by 2025.

• Deploy the cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source—energy efficiency.
Obama will set an aggressive energy efficiency goal—to reduce electricity demand 15% from projected levels by 2020.

• Weatherize one million homes annually.

Obama will make a national commitment to weatherize at least 1 million low-income homes each year for the next decade, which can reduce energy usage across the economy and help moderate energy prices for all.

• Develop and deploy clean coal technology.
Obama’s Department of Energy will enter into public–private partnerships to develop five “first-of-a-kind” commercial-scale coal-fired plants with clean carbon capture and sequestration technology.

• Prioritize the construction of the Alaska natural gas pipeline.
As president, Obama will work with stakeholders to facilitate construction of the pipeline. Not only is the pipeline critical to our energy security, it will create thousands of new jobs.

Words at the convention

Science and energy were not on the agenda at the convention Wednesday night, but did get brief mentions by John Kerry in his blistering attack on John McCain:

And “the assault on science” was mentioned in a dramatic speech by President Bill Clinton:

Meanwhile, a blog entry brings up the environmental views from Joe Biden’s old campaign website. Seems like a good addition to the ticket in that respect:

Denver’s clean energy mantra

Take a look at this short clip I created on YouTube. It is footage of a hybrid Prius taxi-cab on a Denver street, along with a demonstration GM fuel-cell vehicle in front of the Pepsi Center.

I can’t wait to see hybrid taxis in every major city and fuel cell vehicles for sale at the car lots!

Obama’s big acceptance speech happens Thursday night at the Mile-High Stadium, and former Vice President Al Gore should have some good words on climate and science issues before the presidential nominee takes the stage.

Ryan Ewing