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.”

Engineering a Greener Future

It's been a big week for Detroit and an even bigger week for the average American consumer. Media stories on GM dealerships feeling the pinch, car buyers making purchase decisions and Chevy lovers waxing poetic about times gone by have all been prolific. The one big story that seems to be missing in the mainstream is how this will change the attitude of the manufacturers. Does this mean that going green will become a mainstay in the development of new vehicles for GM?

For those of us who have watched the "An Inconvenient Truth" or even track quarterly auto sales figures, it's very apparent that the Japanese have figured out what America wants - quality at $2.00 per gallon and gas savings at $4.00 per gallon. In his book, "The Long Emergency", James Kuntsler addresses the issue of hiccups (Gore does too). During 2008, we saw record prices per barrel and at the pump which is just a hiccup, but inevitably a permanent reality. So let's hope that GM is willing to build a greener future and welcome them to a newer cleaner world of automotive engineering. It will be painful, but is there another choice?