Happy November!

Good morning from DC! It is a beautiful fall day, the sun is shining, and the Environmental and Public Works Committee is meeting to mark-up the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act S. 1733. Well….they would be meeting to mark up the bill except that the seven Republicans on the committee are planning to boycott the mark up, and so it is expected that the Democrats will show up, give opening statements for the benefit of the press and the avid environmentalists, and leave. Politics at its best. I know what you are thinking, why are the Republicans attempting to stall the political process and prevent the United States of America from responding to climate change 20 years after it has been determined that this is a problem that requires our immediate attention? Well you probably don’t want my own opinions on the matter, but their reason is that the Environmental Protection Agency has not conducted a complete economic modeling of the bill, and so they have no idea what impact cap and trade will have on the average Americans pocketbook. Actually, they may have a point. The democrats say that while a complete modeling may not have been done on this bill, the House bill, which is in many respects similar, did have a complete economic modeling done on it. They also may have a point. Of course the real reasons behind the Republicans delay may be quite different, and even if they were here, they would be offering 100 different amendments attempting to weaken the bill and protect their interests, fueled and funded by the natural resources industries who are not excited about being shoved out of business by wind and solar power, despite the fact that that is unlikely to happen anytime soon. So, what are our chances for passage? It all depends (the classic answer in any of the social sciences). Hopes were raised the other week by the editorial published in the New York Times by John Kerry and Lindsey Graham. For those who just want a bill passed, the public acknowledgement of the importance of this issue by a prominent Republican raised hopes that some other moderate Republicans might get on board with the bill. For those further on the left, there were concerns that Kerry was bowing to the opposition by giving in on nuclear power, “clean” coal, and offshore drilling. Inevitably, some of these concessions will have to be accepted if we are to get a bill passed, but hopefully the integrity of the bill will not be overly compromised. Regardless, it is unlikely that this bill will come to a vote by the end of the year. A difficult fact to reconcile with, especially because of the international conferences in Copenhagen that are coming up in December, and many were hoping both at home and abroad that the United States would be able to come to the negotiations with some concrete proposals. Anyway, it is an exciting time to be here. Keep watching for news!

In other areas of my life, my preparations are underway for Europe! We will be leaving on Saturday the 7th and staying through the 24th. Our travels will take us to Geneva, Switzerland, Strasbourg, France, Trier, Germany, the Hague, Netherlands, and Brussles, Belgium, with stops along the way in Luxembourg, Bruges, and Amsterdam. So basically a whirlwind tour of a large part of the European continent. It will undoubtedly be a hectic two and a half weeks, but I am very excited to go. I have not been out of the country since 2003, so I am looking forward to traveling again. I am hoping that we hear some good speakers, and I am especially looking forward to visiting the International Criminal Court, where, if we are lucky, we may be able to see a trial actually underway.

Last week in class we talked a lot about free trade and fair trade. It was interesting to learn that according to some, these are the same thing. Who knew!?!?!? That was meant to be sarcastic if you didn’t catch on. Free trade and fair trade are certainly not the same thing, but there is no reason why we cannot enact policies that make free trade fairer. This week we will be talking about the European Union in preparation for our travels. After we get back, it will be Thanksgiving, and then I will be back in Minnesota on the 13th of December!

Thanks for reading! I promise to upload pictures before I leave for Europe!