Election Fall-Out for Clean Technology

by Rona Fried Lie, Smear, Obstruct, Win. That’s the new motto for American politics. Add to that pompous ignorance and you know what we’re up against in the 2011 Congress. After eight long years of the Bush Administration, we had a very brief period of support for cleantech and renewable energy with the Obama Administration. Now, that "hope for change" is gone. It’s bad news for science and the reality of climate change with climate deniers back in town. Bill Mayer joked on Real Time that Tea Partiers don’t "believe" in gravity. But it’s no joke. We’re about to have the most pro-dirty energy Congress we’ve seen. Thanks to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, Big Oil and Dirty Coal spent a fortune to swing this election, and they got what they paid for. Renewable energy, clean technology, and the vital investments in education and research that underpin its spread are in jeopardy in the US. In fact, the new Republican majority will do their best to unwind all our environmental laws that protect our air and water and natural resources. Those laws put "undue burdens" on polluters – if we want jobs, we’ll have to get rid of them. […]

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