Gasbags by E.J. Dionne, Jr. Will Dems listen to Al Gore?

Gasbags by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
Al Gore has shown Democrats a way to talk about gas prices while appealing to voters. Will they follow his lead?
Post Date Thursday, July 17, 2008


WASHINGTON--On the issue of gasoline prices, Republicans think they have a winner in their call for new drilling and Democrats are playing defense. Democrats need--this is a technical term--a lot more oomph. Al Gore wants to help them.

In a speech here on Thursday and in an interview, Gore played his usual role as unpaid party visionary by arguing that we can ease the climate crisis, the economic crisis and the crisis of dependence on foreign energy all at once.

"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet," Gore said in his speech. "Every bit of that's got to change." He urges a 10-year goal for getting 100 percent of our electricity from renewable sources and clean, rather than carbon-based, fuels.

It sounds like a typical, idealistic Al Gore idea. But two things about this proposal merit attention. It points a country that uses too much energy down the right path. And Gore is showing that being environmentally responsible is economically sensible.

Democrats should be concerned about where they are on the gas-price issue right now, and the party's own strategists are worried that its response so far is inadequate.

What the Democrats have been saying about the Bush administration's energy record is certainly true: The money taxpayers threw at the oil and gas industry in Vice President Cheney's energy plan did nothing to help consumers at the pump.

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