Editorial
When John Meets Al
Four major bills have recently been offered in the Senate calling for mandatory controls on carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas. And last week, 10 big companies, including General Electric, Alcoa and progressive utilities like PG&E of California, joined in an informal coalition to press Congress and President Bush for action.
All of this has been accompanied by considerable fanfare. But at least as important was a quiet little letter to the members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce from its new chairman, John Dingell.
A Michigan Democrat who in recent years has opposed stronger fuel economy standards for automobiles, Mr. Dingell is, at best, agnostic on global warming. But he said he would put climate change at the top of the committee agenda this year and, for good measure, would invite Al Gore — whose documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” has raised public awareness of the issue — to testify first.
Mr. Gore should quickly accept. Mr. Dingell’s support will be essential to any real progress on curbing emissions. In recent years, serious discussion of climate change has been largely confined to the Senate. But laws must be passed by both chambers, and if anything is to happen in the House, it will need Mr. Dingell’s participation and consent.
That is the main reason House Speaker Nancy Pelosi established a select committee on global warming last week — not to end-run Mr. Dingell’s powers, which she can’t really do, but to elevate an issue she regards as important and to pressure Mr. Dingell to take a leadership role.
Mr. Dingell is 80 now, a formidable warrior who during 51 years in the House has played a pivotal role in pushing through nearly every cornerstone environmental law, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and laws protecting wilderness and endangered species. But while he supported fuel economy standards years ago, his loyalties to Detroit have led him to oppose further restrictions. As for global warming, he has said that he needs to be convinced that the consequences are truly worth worrying about, and if they are, that the problem can be addressed without bankrupting the country.
Hardly a believer, in other words, but plainly open to persuasion. Which is why it’s essential for Mr. Gore and others to become part of the conversation Mr. Dingell has invited. In the end, what is most likely to move him forward is not pressure from Ms. Pelosi or anyone else but appeals to his well-documented sense of environmental stewardship.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company |
