Former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore is nowhere near Charlotte, North Carolina, as his party holds its national convention. The environmental activist is instead spending the week in New York City.
Many prominent Democrats have skipped the DNC this year, but why Gore in particular? On reason may be that his presence may remind voters of the green energy failures of the President’s administration. Solyndra, Fisker, Beacon, A 123, Ener1 and other belly-up DOE investments have become anathema to the American public.
Even aside from Gore, the White House is downplaying the environmental extremism of its current Cabinet. The President did not ask Energy Secretary Steven Chu to talk about energy policy at the convention; instead, he assigned Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that task. Clad in a white cowboy hat, Salazar talked up oil and gas drilling as though Obama were a bullish advocate. He asserted the President will bring America energy independence by using an “all of the above” energy strategy.
What Mr. Salazar did not point out is that record drilling in North Dakota, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana all came from states with Republican Governors who simply ignored Al Gore and Steven Chu and let free enterprise prevail.
Lindsay Leveen is the author of Hydrogen – Hope or Hype? A Primer on Energy and Sustainability.
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