Wonk Talk – Climate Change and John Dingell

A friend invited me to Congressional Quarterly’s climate change event this morning, so I hopped in the car at 8am, coffee in hand, and make the brief trek to Union Station in DC just in time for the 8:30 start time. I was thrilled to see that Judy Woodruff, the PBS News Hour anchor and contributor, along with Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) were going to be present at the event. As it happened, Dingell opened with twenty minutes of remarks on the current state of the (Waxman-Markey) climate bill that’s making its way through Congress.

As the Chairman Emeritus of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, one of five ‘exclusive’ committees in the U.S. House, Dingell is a force to be reckoned with. At 82 years young, he spoke with the passion and precision of many of his younger colleagues. In 2008, Dingell made news over the much talked about power struggle with colleague Henry Waxman concerning the leadership of the committee. However, he is still in the game and as committed as ever to move this recent piece of climate legislation forward.

According to a 2007 TIME Magazine article, the man (Dingell) tasked with defending Detroit’s automakers from too much change too quickly, seems to also be one of the few who can save it by other means, “… just as it took anticommunist Richard Nixon to open the door to China, and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons to denounce misogyny in rap, so Dingell, Democrat from Dearborn and friend of factories, may be the insider able to drive change.”

With all of his experience serving the people of Michigan and working the halls of Congress for over four decades, perhaps Dingell is correct when he states that the current legislation is, “the first step in a long journey” and will “provide for both business and environmental concerns”. He’s also realistic in terms of what this will cost the next generation – “we have to make it advantageous to save/conserve and painful to waste...outlooks and attitude of the American people will have to change.”