Ninety-three of them are not only talking the talk but walking the walk, affixing their logos to an ad breaking in support of "creating American jobs in the new low-carbon economy."Kudos go to General Electric, Environmental Defense Fund, Christian Coalition, Timberland, Ford, Google, Bank of America, Con Edison, United Steelworkers, Campbell's, DuPont, Natural Resources Defense Council, Hewlett-Packard, PepsiCo, Duke Energy, John Deere, Nike, Alcoa, AFL-CIO, and Evangelical Environmental Network for going public.
They understand it's time to move beyond silly sideshows such as the ridiculously right-wing hyped "ClimateGate," which alleges a worldwide scientific conspiracy to fudge stats to promote proof of global warming. The "all-knowing" U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its position as cheerleader of the global warming-denier mob is another obstacle to needed reform.
Debuting in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina and Florida, the ad carries the "A Question of American Leadership" tagline. It says U.S. policymakers face a "once-in-a-century opportunity to lower greenhouse gas emissions and become the world’s leader in a burgeoning clean energy economy." It is "time for Democrats and Republicans to unite behind bi-partisan, national energy and climate legislation that increases and limits emissions as it preserves and creates jobs."
The ad provides a good deal of political cover for President Obama. He showed leadership as the countdown began for the vote on healthcare reform. His spirited pitch is why the health bill is now law of the land. If Obama demonstrates that same enthusiasm for the climate change-energy-"green" jobs bill, good things will happen again.