Meet George Voinovich, the Poodle Nipping at Al Gore's Heels
Last month, when Al Gore called on the U.S. to rid itself of its reliance on carbon-based electricity, Republicans were required to trot out a worthy attack dog to denounce the former VP.
Since George Bush and Dick Cheney both enjoy the public faith of a polygamist leader, they shoved out Ohio Senator George Voinovich, a man whose achievements could be listed on a postcard. It was evidence that the GOP’s bench on matters green is thin indeed. Voinovich may have the Senate’s worst credentials on environmental issues.
Back in Ohio, he’s best known for carrying water for the coal industry, the most polluting form of energy there is. He’s also served as a congressional bodyguard for the U.S. auto industry -- Motto: Frozen in Time Since 1971. And as governor, he emasculated any form of environmental protection – this in a state that resembles a giant Superfund site. Making him the Republican point man on energy is like making Marilyn Mason the bassist for Amy Grant.
But over the weekend, the GOP unleashed Voinovich on Gore. He predictably called the Tennessean’s ideas “ridiculous” and “extremist,” instead urging a policy of more drilling. Never mind that the country is in the midst realizing its energy policy completely moronic. The Republicans still felt the need to thrust front a center a man who still believes the world is flat.
If the whole episode sounds rather 1980 to you, it is. But fortunately for Gore, Voinovich’s Senate achievements have been largely restricted to suckering Big Energy, Big Health, Big Insurance and Big Banking into opening their wallets. Moving legislation? Not so much.
The GOP, it seems, has sent a poodle to a dogfight.
Comments
Okay. You don't like Voinovich. Anything else?
Posted 07/22/2008 at 08:48:24 AMIn hell, on the other side of Dick Cheney's suite from the room reserved for the education theorists who believe that teaching phonics is outdated, I would leave a place for the mountaintop-removing assholes who keep spouting the oxymoronic phrase "clean coal."
But in fairness to Voinovich, I would note that one of the people in Congress who has fought longest and hardest against tightening emissions standards is the liberal lion John Dingell of Michigan. As with so many politicians of all stripes, principles get tossed under the bus when it comes to looking after the pecuniary interests of the folks at home.
Posted 07/22/2008 at 10:46:59 AMVoinovich is right - Gore's idea is ridiculous.
First, there in no reason we need to stop using carbon fuels for electricity in the first place.
Despite Gore's shrill squealing about the "crisis" of global warming, neither he or anyone else has ever actually been able to prove that such a thing as man-made global warming exists at all.
Second, it couldn't be done anyway. Growing economies demand increasing supplies of energy. We are behind the curve already thanks to government caving in to the environmental wackos and blocking new power plants. Allegedly "clean" energy would have to ramp up at a geometric rate to not only replace what we use now but handle the increased supply that will be required going forward.
Wind and solar are not consistenly reliable sources of energy - as Texas recently found out when a sudden drop in wind precipitously reduced the power output of wind farms and put the power grid into an emergency situation. They had to shut off power to a bunch of industrial customer to prevent blackouts. All the wind and solar power has to have some source of backup power and most of that is going to have to be either carbon fuel based or nuclear power.
Posted 07/25/2008 at 07:39:05 AM