Blame Game Dominates Editorials About Energy Bills

Editorials on the Senate's failure to produce a comprehensive energy bill sought to pin the blame on both parties. The Dallas Morning News wrote today in an editorial: "Heaping blame on Republicans in this case is easy and reasonably justified. But Democrats managed to hammer a few of their own nails in the coffin of a comprehensive energy bill."

Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., "couldn't bring himself to put passing this legislation at the top of his to-do list." The five keys to a good energy bill, the Morning News wrote, included: a meaningful cap on GHGs that divides the costs between consumers and polluters; aggressive mandates for renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar; a clear path for a new generation of nuclear power plants; requirements for automakers to increase fuel efficiency and improve emissions controls; and a road map for utilities to better develop a smart grid that reduces energy consumption.

The Bangor Daily News wrote today in an editorial that Reid was "more concerned about his re-election than legislation to reduce America’s dependence on oil from volatile and hostile parts of the world. Republicans are more interested in defeating Democratic ideas than providing businesses with a predictable energy future. The White House was content to let Democratic leaders craft and shepherd legislation through Congress to deal with energy and climate change and never got involved, even when it was clear that direction and support were needed."

However, the Salt Lake Tribune posed, in an editorial published today, a different point: "When are Republicans in Congress, particularly in the Senate, going to accept responsibility for failing to deal with climate change and its potentially devastating effects, a looming catastrophe caused primarily by the United States' gluttony for fossil fuels?"

The Charleston Post and Courier wrote in an editorial that America's "long-term energy prices are bound to soar even higher if we don't intensify our efforts to develop alternative energy and conserve fuel and electric power."