The battle for what's left of the left's soul.
American Spectator (2/14/21) column: "Joe Biden isn’t the most important man in Washington. In fact, he isn’t even the most important man in Washington named Joe. That distinction belongs to the senior senator from West Virginia, Democrat Joe Manchin. Manchin is perhaps the final incarnation of the Democratic Party old school. He’s a self-described “moderate-conservative” — a blue dog’s blue dog who wheels, deals, horse trades, and log rolls for the people of his state. And his political issue picking-and-choosing probably puts him closer to the median American voter than either Republicans or his fellow Democrats care to admit. With the Upper Chamber split 50-50 between the two parties, Manchin in the Middle has leverage over every bill that hits the Senate floor. That inconvenient truth puts some serious hurdles in the way of the Democratic Party’s climate agenda. West Virginia, of course, sits at the heart of coal country and atop the Marcellus shale basin. Now chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Joe Manchin has no intention of selling out his state. Just two weeks into the Biden presidency, Manchin has already sent Washington’s more famous Joe a letter cautioning him against the abandonment of America’s energy workers. Manchin argues that we ought not to jettison 'responsible energy infrastructure development, including of oil and natural gas pipelines,' and he encourages Biden to 'take into account the potential impacts of any further action to safety, jobs, and energy security.' The tale of two Joes reveals a fundamental change in Democratic Party politics and a rift in our national culture."
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Far from being an economic win–win, climate policy is a lose–lose. Replacing energy derived from hydrocarbons with wind and solar energy shrinks the economy’s productive potential."
– Rupert Darwall, Real Clear Energy
|
|
|
|
|
|
