President Obama met with Al Gore to discuss these environmental matters. He stated:

The time for delay is over; the time for denial is over. We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now that this is a matter of urgency and national security and it has to be dealt with in a serious way.

While I’m thankful that there’s finally someone in the white house (OK, soon…) who will actually pay attention to real science, I’m not sure the Congress will do the same. This seems evident by the Big 3 fiasco. Here is an opportunity for us to really make a difference in the environmental impact of the American auto industry, but I’m afraid we’re distracted by economics. They should not get a cent unless environment trumps economics. The farcical quality of these hearings is unbearable. People keep going on and on about jobs that are in danger: well, jobs would still be there if we refocused the industry toward a greener future. There might even be more jobs. Maybe Americans need to be weened from their car addiction anyway?

We have less than 10 years to drastically reduce the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Hopefully that will begin with Obama.

This is telling:

When I was vice president, I initiated a program called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. The federal government invested over a billion dollars in partnership with the Big Three to focus on the accelerated development of advanced high-efficiency vehicles. But as soon as they felt they were off the hook at the end of 2000, they pulled the plug and walked away.

And now they want a bail-out. I’m glad we didn’t fold so easily this time. We cannot keep up this American business-as-usual practice wen it comes to the environment. The cost is just too high.