President Obama has cleverly linked advances in clean energy to our becoming more competitive with the Chinese. The idea works philosophically, but what about practically? Neal notes that getting to clean energy will be a long slog. We will be dependent on fossil fuels for a long time. Wind power, for example, may work in North Dakota, Texas and Oklahoma, Neal point out, but elsewhere will be but a small contributor to energy supply. Right now, it’s less than one percent. Solar is a long way off, and China has already stolen a march on us in that department.

When it comes to energy, all politics is regional. If you’re from a coal or oil state, regional alliances trump partisan affiliation. President Obama suggested ending tax subsidies to fossil fuels, yesterday’s energy, and providing tax subsidies instead to fund clean energy development, tomorrow’s energy. Using the tax code to encourage alternative energy may provide poetic symmetry but, given the pressures of regional politics, it’s not going to happen overnight. Or over many cold nights.

Congressman Neal makes it clear why he came within a hair’s breadth of becoming the Ranking Member on the House Ways and Means Committee. He’s keenly intelligent on the substantive issues and savvy about the personalities and pressures of legislative maneuvering. I’d like to think he’s wrong about the prospects for progress on energy and the environment this session, but I fear I must defer to his wisdom and experience.

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