Dateline: Copenhagen

On NPR this morning, a commentator noted in the aftermath of the Massachusetts Senate election yesterday that the Obama administration now more than ever needed to decide what its agenda will be for this “critical mid-term” year. The commentator went on to note that “the American people want [the Obama Administration to] focus on jobs and the economy, not climate change, not immigration, not…”

The irony is that if Congress were to effectively focus on climate change, it would also be focused in fundamentally important ways on jobs and the economy. Why are we unable to connect these dots?

Whether Congress were to act on climate legislation that enabled U.S. participation in the emerging international carbon market through “cap and trade” or “cap and dividend,” or if it were to act to place a direct tax on carbon, it would be acting to create essential pools of capital required for transformation of the energy economy. If that capital is then invested wisely, it will be all about broadening the fuel portfolio of that energy economy (read: increasing our energy security and better protecting us against the volatility of fossil fuel markets). It will, as importantly, also be about creating thousands and thousands of new jobs for a healthier, more prosperous and more sustainable 21st century economy. This, incrementally, can create a low-carbon economy in a win-win-win scenario for the economy, the environment and for increased energy security. But that might require true political leadership, by both the people of this country and those whom we elect to represent both the individual and collective interest.