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U.S. CITIES:
Front Line of the Climate War
Kent Garber
In
In
Hometown quarrel. Afterward, organizers praised the event as a "monumental success," in part because it generated an "enormous media push," with dozens of articles, news segments, and radio interviews from local sources. The planners were optimistic that the state's two Democratic senators,
The chamber staged 11 such events that year, most in swing states, before the economy collapsed and before President Obama gave climate advocates hope that someone would finally take serious action on reducing greenhouse gases. The chamber's strategy, though, was in some ways prescient. Energy and climate legislation passed the House this year but is stuck in the
Nowhere is this clearer today than in
Around the time the House debate started, Perriello's office began seeing attacks from opposition groups. A
But Perriello hasn't changed his position. If anything, his reaction represents the other narrative that has formed around the issue: the response to the
Perriello sees a pathway for revival in clean energy, and he's making it his job to sell it to his constituents. "I was talking to a dairy farmer who was really concerned," Perriello recalls. "He said, 'What should I tell my son who is 20 about the kind of energy bills he's going to be having?' I said, 'Tell him he's not going to have energy bills--he's going to be selling energy as his second crop on top of dairy.' "
Perriello is showing off what's already happening in his district. There are clean energy projects on the ground, humming away thanks to President Obama's stimulus package, and there are initiatives, such as biofuel refineries, that could be up and running if only there were a little more money to go around. One of the state's largest dairy farmers, for example, is now capturing methane from manure and making electricity from it, enough to power the entire farm.
This is, in a way, a battle for hearts and minds in small-town America and swing-state America (
Sharp opposition. But one thing that has remained remarkably consistent over time is that Americans like clean energy. Their firm instinct is to support policies that are good for renewables. And that gives advocates hope. "What we've seen is that the public is with us on renewable energy, on making polluters accountable," says
Projects like the ones in Perriello's district are creating local excitement. But they've largely been glossed over by the national media. That's an oversight, some say, that opposition groups have been all too eager to exploit. "What's happened is that the financial resources have been spent to undermine the perception of that support," says Christensen. "I think there is a perception-versus-reality problem. The loudness and shrillness of the opposition have obscured the support. That makes members of
The prospects of a climate bill passing the
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- Front Line of the Climate War
Environment - Front Line of the Climate War | Kent Garber
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