Obama's Post Copenhagen PBS Interview: Climate Solutions Legislation Needed For America to Lead The World in Clean Energy

Looking ahead into 2010, this is exactly what I want to be hearing from President Obama -- from his recent post Copenhagen PBS interview:

And if we pass a bill in the Senate, reconcile it with the House, that says we are going to invest in wind energy and solar energy and we’re going to be the guys who are producing wind turbines, and we’re going to be the folks who are producing solar panels on rooftops, and we’re going to be the country that is retrofitting all its homes and businesses so that we are 30 percent more energy-efficient than we are right now, that produces jobs that can’t be exported; it reduces our dependence on foreign oil; it is good economics; it will increase our exports – oh, and by the way, it also solves the climate problem. And that is, I think, an argument that I’m going to be making not just next year but for several years to come.

Bravo!

There are a couple of other points to ponder as you head into your holidays.  First, it will be important to ask opponents of climate progress to be clear what they are for if they are against this legislation.  The bill's supporters should make it clear and repeat time and again that a vote against this bill is a vote for continued dependence on oil and other polluting fossil fuels, which threatens our economy, compromises our security, and makes millions of people sick.

Second, there's an important and inspiring patriotic argument to be made here as well, in addition to the common economic/green jobs and energy security/freedom from oil lines.  The bill's supporters should make it clear -- and repeat time and time again -- that a vote against this bill is a vote FOR China: because voting against this legislation will help China to lead the world in clean technology, and will cost Americans millions of jobs and decades of prosperity.

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Note: This comes via Andy Revkin's post-Copenhagen update...
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