If you ever thought that Democrats care about substance and/or policy while Republicans care only about spin, think again.
"Given lemons, aren't they making lemonade?" suggested an aide to one liberal Democratic lawmaker. Referring to the energy package's central role in the newest message strategy, the aide added: "It's an issue that polls very well with the American public, and frankly, the fact that energy got gutted doesn't really matter."
The passage of the Energy Bill is not a victory. The funding for nasty coal initiatives was stripped out of the Energy Bill and stuck into another spending bill, which will probably pass, and the Energy Bill doesn't really do very much that is good. It's worth asking the question of why it is that the public can't tell the difference between a good Energy Bill and a bad one. The answer has to do with the validators for the public, DC-based environmental groups, who have broken faith with the people they are supposed to represent.
Take NRDC, the environmental group praising the whole rotten deal. This is what Karen Wayland, legislative director at the Natural Resources Defense Council says.
This historic legislation will make America more energy independent, more secure, create thousands of new jobs, spark economic growth, save consumers money, cut pollution and make real progress to reduce carbon emissions warming the Earth.
As you can see, the Village system is pretty simple. NRDC gets to tell their funders that they have been successful at passing a good Energy Bill, energy lobbyists get what they want, the Democratic leadership gets to brag about a bill, and Bush gets to sign a bill.
Discrediting or reforming DC greenwashers like NRDC and Environmental Defense is something to put on the to do list.
STATE BLOGS
