With the Waxman-Markey bill already through the House and waiting to be debated in the Senate this fall, many Americans, likely taking a cue from the summer’s contentious health care town hall forums, are looking to make known their dissatisfaction with any legislation that would put a cap on carbon emissions (or any price for that matter). Take for instance the rally held Tuesday in Houston, TX.
The event, organized by the American Petroleum Institute’s group Energy Citizens, sought to highlight the fact that many individuals in the South whose livelihood is very directly related to U.S. oil and natural gas production were unhappy with the looming prospect of a nationwide carbon mitigation policy. Whether Tuesday’s rally was an example of genuine frustration on the part of the American energy consumer or an example of “astroturfing” (industry creating the appearance of grassroots organization to further some agenda), it remains unclear just what the group was rallying for.
Without clear and structured proposals from the event, it is uncertain whether the group is fighting to stall the legislation in any form or to simply increase allocations made to the oil and natural gas industries in the Senate draft of the bill. These are two very different outcomes that could be viewed favorably by anyone with strong reservations about H.R. 2454 or to any climate bill for that matter.
It will be interesting to see if this public resistance will have an impact when the Senate is resumes debate of the climate bill in the coming months. Perhaps the rallies will have a more significant impact if their underlying goals are well defined and accompanied by policy suggestions that are actionable in the Senate. Telling Congress to ‘get it right’ may not be enough on its own when ‘right’ is not well defined.
The event was just one several planned in the coming months in about 20 states.
