WHERE PARTISANS CAN AGREE

Greens & Hawks: An Uneasy Alliance
Gal Luft, Fall 2009 (InFocus)

"… Many components of energy policy, like increased fuel efficiency, the use of mass transit, the shift to some renewable fuels, and the electrification of transportation, can offer both security and environmental benefits…Greens and hawks have much to agree on…[though are] not as aligned as many tend to think…

"…[Global climate change]…is now called [by environmentalists] "the challenge of our generation…" [and] carbon-emitting fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas are viewed with scorn…[Security hawks,] conservatives, evangelical Christians, veterans, and Jews…[see] national security and economic security [as] a higher priority than global warming…Hawks are traditionally interested in reforming the transportation sector, 95 percent of which is powered by petroleum…[while] environmentalists are concerned with…electricity generation and transmission…"

The article's author co-wrote this book suggesting it is time to turn oil into just another commodity. (click to enlarge)

"…[T]he biggest bone of contention between greens and conservatives in the U.S. has to do with the utilization of domestic energy resources. Hawks seek to tap energy resources in the U.S. in order to reduce our reliance on foreign sources. Greens are steadfastly opposed… [E]nvironmental opposition has put [U.S. conventional and unconventional oil and coal] resources mostly out of reach…[M]any environmentalists who in the past strongly supported biofuels now oppose them because of the unintended consequences of the sudden growth of the industry, which they view as unsustainable. Security hawks, by contrast, see biofuels as an immediate and imperative oil displacement strategy…[W]e are thus far unable to address the concerns of both camps simultaneously…

"…[During] the George W. Bush Administration…[there was a push] for increased domestic oil production, investment in the development of shale oil, and a streamlined refinery permitting process…Bush became increasingly open to [alternative energy] policies…[but] the Bush Administration's overall indifference to global warming and its rejection of international pressure to adopt restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions infuriated the [environmental] movement…The Barack Obama Administration…[has] made sweeping changes…The most significant was his increase in fuel efficiency standards…When faced with tradeoffs between security and the environment, Obama has been more green than hawk…Regardless of how many petrodollars it diverts from dangerous regimes, ethanol is only acceptable as an alternative fuel if its carbon footprint is low…Global warming also appears to trump security in Obama's foreign policy…"

click to enlarge

"[E]nvironmentalists warn that coal power for one billion Indians means a lot of CO2. By contrast, security-minded people are more concerned about India shifting to the cleaner alternative, natural gas…[imported from] neighboring Iran…The Bush Administration was vocally opposed to [a Pakistan-Iran natural gas] pipeline project…The Obama Administration…has been mute on the issue…

"What can greens and hawks agree on? …[W]e must first prosper…Therefore, curbing greenhouse gas emissions would be contingent on the prosperity and economic resilience of America and other developed nations…Second, both greens and hawks must recognize that oil's strategic status derives…from its virtual monopoly over transportation fuel…The key to both energy security and reduced carbon emissions is therefore in vehicle platforms that enable fuel competition…[A]n open fuel standard would help to protect the U.S. economy from high and volatile oil prices and from the threats caused by global instability, while enabling market penetration of alternative fuels that are less carbon intensive…And because electricity is 98 percent petroleum-free, greens and hawks can also work together to speed up the commercialization of electric cars and plug-in hybrids.…[G]reens and hawks must focus on a unified agenda…[or] both will continue to undercut each other, leaving America exposed."