Douglas Addresses Global Warming, Room Overheats From Hot Air
November 21, 2007
It must be great to be Governor Jim Douglas. I mean, the guy is little more than a political speedbump and yet he’s still considered to be unbeatable. Hmm, could someone please remind me what makes Vermonters think we’re so politically superior? My magic potion seems to be wearing off after nearly twenty jaded years.
Douglas, of course, stepped up to the microphone and fanfare yesterday in Burlington to announce that he had a “global warming plan.” But it seems like the only ones who consider what he said to be anything close to a “plan” are the governor, his minions and the headline writer at the Times Argus who coughed up this for the front page: “Governor Offers Global Warming Plan.” Surely they were smiling.
To be more accurate, what Governor Douglas did yesterday was basically more of what he’s come to perfect: Acknowledge concern about an issue, bash his opponents for their plan to solve it and then declare that his yet-to-be finalized “plan” will surely make us all orgasmically silly – once he releases it. What a tease. But, lucky for him, the media and the voters just keep lining up to here this same tired act. Better yet (for him), the Dems are so frightened of it that they can’t even find anyone to take him on. Go figure.
I’ve tried to read everything I can find on the “plan” Douglas unveiled yesterday and, I swear, I can’t find an ounce of substance. Here, for example, is Louis Porter of the Vermont Press Bureau’s rather noble attempt to parse some substance out of what he had to sit through yesterday:
Douglas emphasized the economic benefit Vermonters could reap from national and international concerns about climate change – and the commitment the state has already made to energy efficiency – rather than the new efforts the state’s citizens should make to reduce their contribution to the problem.
For instance, the state should work to establish a market and quality standard for carbon offset credits that Vermonters, with their relatively low carbon dioxide production and farm and forest land, could then sell to industries and individuals that want to make up for their own release of the gases responsible for global warming. The money could be used to further efforts to reduce global warming, Douglas said.
Huh? And that’s not some excerpt from deep in Porter’s story. It’s the third and fourth paragraphs. You can almost feel Porter grasping for something – anything! – to write about after being summoned to Burlington for a rather pompous unveiling of a “plan.” To hell with Waldo, where’s the plan?
It gets better. The pullout quote accompanying the story on the front page of the Times Argus features this from Douglas:
“I reject the notion that jobs come at the expense of the environment.”
Hmm, there he goes again, arguing with himself. Correct me if I’m wrong, but has anyone on the left of Mr. Right been saying that we all need to give up our jobs to stop global warming? If so, I must have missed that delicious day of delusion from Peter Shumlin.
But I guess that’s what happens to a politician when they don’t have a serious opponent. They just start making stuff up and, like some cartoon word bubble, place it over a semi-likeness of a could-be opponent and then kick its ass in a debate. Or, if I wasn’t used to being paid by the word, I could have just said he’s shadow boxing.
Speaking of shadow boxing, here’s what the chair of Douglas’ Climate Control Commission, Ernie Pomerleau, had to say at the plan’s unveiling:
I am opposed to new bureaucracies. You can’t spray money at something and fix it.
Congratulations on nailing the Republican talking points, Ernie. But what I really want to know is how a real estate developer got to chair a commission on global warming? That’s kind of like having Ed Abbey oversee the building permits, no?
The political reality here is that Douglas-the-speedbump needed some headlines on global warming for the upcoming election year. His young-gun handlers understand that they can’t keep giggling about global warming as if it doesn’t exist or that Vermonters aren’t seriously looking for answers. Moreover, Douglas and his already-in-motion re-election team know that he’s looking a lot like “Governor No” on this issue after his veto last summer. And they need to put something forward and wipe the smirks off their faces for just a moment to make it look like they care.
If Douglas had some real opponents and the Vermont media would wake up, he wouldn’t be able to get away with these kinds of policy photo-ops. Hats off to Senator Virginia Lyons, and Elizabeth Courtney of the Vermont Natural Resources Council and Todd Bailey of the Vermont Alliance of Conservation Voters for at least calling the Douglas plan what it is: Hot air. Sorry, Jim, but that’s the last thing we need more of.
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Well, the girls and I are off to Thanksgiving day dinner, but my brief check on my email made me come here just to say:
Man, did you nail it! This is the most exquisite piece of Douglas criticism I have yet to read. And it’s quotable!
My favorite lines:
“…[Douglas] is little more than a political speedbump and yet he’s still considered to be unbeatable…”
“…Governor Douglas did yesterday was basically more of what he’s come to perfect: Acknowledge concern about an issue, bash his opponents for their plan to solve it and then declare…his yet-to-be finalized “plan”…”
“…what I really want to know is how a real estate developer got to chair a commission on global warming?”
and the perfect sound bite for any would be challenger:
“Governor No”
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! And a special thanks to Michael for a great post. (Redraft it for print, dropping such phrases as “orgasmically silly” if you’d like to see this get ink.)
Republican policy is how a real estate developer got to chair a commission on global warming.
This little presser on global warming is more about deflecting an existing heated issue (pot war). You know, like the DEA conducting background checks on posters at Freyneland. And, I guess taking on the DEA makes the global warming folks seem like an easy defeat.
What I want to know about this dink we have for a Governor is: Where’s he hiding his brother, Darryl, and his other brother, Darryl?
Why does he need a new “plan” and more studies when he was handed a comprehensive thingy from that commission he appointed? Is that, like, not studied enough and detailed enough and stuff? Perhaps he could schedule a meeting to talk about possibly planning to consider discussing a potential study of a plan to implement the plan after a planning committee comes up with a plan to formulate a new plan that can be rigorously studied.