Mr. Democrat Sen. Ted Kennedy (MA) gets a 95% rating from the League of Conservation Voters but is blocking a proposed wind farm that just happens to be 8 miles off the coast of his family compound. Unfortunately, Republican Gov. Mitt Romney also opposes the plan. Point is, sometimes Dems could do better too. I wonder what it takes to get 95%?
Think going green is bad for business? Leading venture capitalist John Doerr doesn’t think so. In fact, he’s pouring $100 million of a $600 million fund into technologies that provide cleaner energy, transportation, air and water. The global market for clean energy climbed to $40 billion last year and is expected to grow to $167 billion by 2015. “…greentech could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century,” says Doerr. Sounds like a money making dream for any Republican…
Republican Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. (MD) recently added Maryland as the eighth northeast state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The collective agreement commits participating states to drastically reduce pollution from power plants that produce smog, acid rain and harmful ozone, while capping emissions of CO2. It is interesting to note that the RGGI was initiated by Republican Governor George E. Pataki in 2003. Today, of the eight participating states, four are led by Republican Governors: NY, MD, CT, and VT. These Republican governors understand that long term costs of uncontrolled pollution far outweighs the short term costs of producing cleaner energy. National republicans ought to follow their lead in developing national energy and pollution reduction policies.