In the aftermath of last week’s elections, the pundits have had an easy time picking out the many ways the Republican agenda in the House and Democrats’ plans in the Senate could clash.
But some reporters have turned their attention to the ways Congress and the White House could find common ground and work together on issues that face the country. Dave Michaels at The Dallas Morning News singles out energy in general and natural gas legislation in particular as an excellent opportunity for President Obama to work with both the House and the Senate:
Energy appears to be one area where the two parties could cooperate. More specifically, the president suggested that policies targeting natural gas production (and use) could be popular with Republicans and Democrats alike. However, the stated legislative goal wouldn’t be reversing climate change, or perhaps even reducing carbon emissions. Instead, Obama fell back on the “energy independence” argument.
The “energy independence” argument that Michaels mentions ties in exactly with what Boone Pickens has been saying since he launched the Pickens Plan in July 2008 about America’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil and the country’s lack of a comprehensive energy plan.
Over the last 40 years, eight presidents have pledged to decrease America’s dependence on imported oil, yet not a one has put a plan in place to make this a reality. On the campaign trail and during the presidential debates, Barack Obama pledged to end our country’s dependence on Middle Eastern oil, and The Dallas Morning News reporter noted that the president reiterated the importance of establishing greater energy security in his post-election news conference:
I don’t think there’s anybody in America who thinks that we’ve got an energy policy that works the way it needs to; that — you know, that thinks that we shouldn’t be working on energy independence. And that gives opportunities for Democrats and Republicans to come together and think about — you know, whether it’s natural gas or energy efficiency or how we can build electric cars in this country — how do we move forward on that agenda. – President Obama
Read Dave Michaels’s entire post HERE.