Obama: Do as I say, not as I do
I need Obama to be more consistent on his environmental and energy policies. I don't have much doubt that he'll be elected President in November and I just don't want to be disappointed because I believed in his message of "change" only to get more of the same pro-industry, wink and nod energy plans that fool the public with fancy language but zero impact. This is really something that worries me.
As the nomination comes to a close, I'm spending more and more time on Obama's website trying to get to know him a little bit more. I was watching his videos on the environment, enjoying what I was hearing, until I came to the 3 minute and 50 second mark on this video:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1137739439/bclid900692839/bctid1334447388
It is at that point Obama starts to talk about Dick Cheney's 2005 Energy Bill. Obama correctly criticizes Cheney for only meeting with environmental groups once during the bill's negotiations and with the oil and gas companies 40 times. He then says "Theres no wonder this system is skewed in the wrong direction."
My jaw dropped. The problem I have with this video is that Obama supported Dick Cheney's 2005 Energy Bill.
I've argued many times with very smart people here on TPM about the reasons why Obama voted for the Bill. But I can't reconcile him 1) voting for the 2005 Energy Bill, 2) bragging about his vote in a press release and 3) releasing a video on his campaign site attacking Cheney for the Bill.
Obama knew at the time that Cheney was meeting privately with oil lobbyists to craft an energy policy behind closed doors that misplaced our national priorities. Yet, he voted for that awful piece of legislation anyways. It went against all the principles he says his candidacy stands for. Both McCain and Hillary voted against the bill.
I am an environmentalist and I want to see a clearer picture of Obama's policies on these issues.
As the nomination comes to a close, I'm spending more and more time on Obama's website trying to get to know him a little bit more. I was watching his videos on the environment, enjoying what I was hearing, until I came to the 3 minute and 50 second mark on this video:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1137739439/bclid900692839/bctid1334447388
It is at that point Obama starts to talk about Dick Cheney's 2005 Energy Bill. Obama correctly criticizes Cheney for only meeting with environmental groups once during the bill's negotiations and with the oil and gas companies 40 times. He then says "Theres no wonder this system is skewed in the wrong direction."
My jaw dropped. The problem I have with this video is that Obama supported Dick Cheney's 2005 Energy Bill.
I've argued many times with very smart people here on TPM about the reasons why Obama voted for the Bill. But I can't reconcile him 1) voting for the 2005 Energy Bill, 2) bragging about his vote in a press release and 3) releasing a video on his campaign site attacking Cheney for the Bill.
Obama knew at the time that Cheney was meeting privately with oil lobbyists to craft an energy policy behind closed doors that misplaced our national priorities. Yet, he voted for that awful piece of legislation anyways. It went against all the principles he says his candidacy stands for. Both McCain and Hillary voted against the bill.
I am an environmentalist and I want to see a clearer picture of Obama's policies on these issues.
