Page 29 - Flathead Beacon // 7.8.15

UNCOMMON GROUND MIKE JOPEK MOVE ON
GUEST COLUMN ROBERT L. BRADLEY JR.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SER- vice issued an extreme heat advi- sory last week stating, “be pre- pared for some of the hottest weather ever recorded in the month of June.” It reached an intense 102 degrees on the farm.
We’ve reorganized some chores to be much earlier and later in the day to avoid the blazing sunshine, which stressed select plants.
Six months into the New Year, the growing season has been anything but predictable. That’s also true for politics, be it in Helena or Washington, D.C.
Gov. Steve Bullock established an impressive working relationship with the Republican-controlled Legislature.
In a surprise to many, the Supreme Court moved some progress of its own.
Last week the court said that peo- ple could keep the tax breaks that the Affordable Care Act put in play over five years ago, which make health insurance accessible to thousands of people across our county and state.
President Barack Obama said after the ruling, “This week, after more than 50 votes in Congress to repeal or weaken this law; after a Presidential election base in part on preserving or repealing this law; after multiple challenges to this law before the Supreme Court, we can now say this for certain: the Affordable Care Act still stands, it is working, and is here to stay.”
CKEYSTONE XL LIMATE ACTIVIST BILL
economic one. The project will require 40,000 direct and indirect jobs, while contributing $3.4 billion to the nation’s economy.
Obama and McKibben retort that these are temporary, not permanent, jobs. But as any construction worker will tell you, all projects are temporary. Keystone XL is one whose willing buyers and sellers do not require a dollar from taxpayers.
It’s little wonder then that labor unions are pushing Democrats on the issue. A vote against Keystone XL, stated Terry O’Sullivan, head of the 500,000-member Laborers’ Interna- tional Union of North America, “is a vote against all construction workers, a vote to keep good, middle-class jobs locked out of reach and a vote to continue to rely on nations that hate America for our energy.”
A strong majority of voters support the construction of Keystone XL. They have heard the best arguments from both sides and chosen common sense.
The chief obstacle facing the project is the president himself, who remains the greatest ally of green activists who see Keystone XL as a beachhead in their war to stop a consumer-driven, free-market, energy-rich economy.
This commitment, of course, isn’t based in science or economics, but self-interested politics. Speaking about the consequences of a veto-proof approval in the Senate, one environmen- tal lobbyist lamented, “For all the activ- ists and for the president, it would be devastating.”
Sad as that may be, American energy policy shouldn’t be based on what’s best for the fringe activists. Producers and consumers deserve a more vibrant, interconnected, and efficient North American energy market.
FRINGE OBSTRUCTIONISM:
“NOT MANY POLITICAL VICTORIES ARE EASY TO ACHIEVE. MANY TAKE DECADES OF ACTIVISM BY REAL PEOPLE ACROSS AMERICA.”
The next day after the court ruled on health care it rendered one of its most monumental decisions in decades. The court said that same-sex marriage is Con- stitutionally legal in our 50 United States.
Staunch Republicans won’t have much good to say about this kind of news. In fact it’s hard to find a candi- date in the GOP presidential primary that will have any-
McKibben recently patted the
environmental movement on the back for obstructing the completion of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport oil sands from Alberta, Can- ada (along with U.S. supply) to the Gulf. McKibben opined, “It’s pretty amaz- ing to see what happens when people organize.”
Amazing, indeed. In standing with extreme environmentalists on this issue, President Barack Obama is not only acting against the best interests of the American people, but also of the environment itself.
While McKibben is right about the control of anti-industrial green activists on White House energy policy, few of his other assertions stand up to scrutiny.
It’s been more than a year since Obama’s State Department concluded that the pipeline would have next-to-no effect on the climate. In fact, the report found that the project would likely reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years.
Blocking Keystone XL won’t stop these energy resources from being developed. With high up-front costs and low variable costs, as well as long-lived output, production from the oil-sand industry will not be stymied by lower prices. But by reducing the need for rail and tanker transport, Keystone XL is anticipated to cut the carbon emissions associated with oil-sand transportation between 27 and 41 percent.
McKibben wrongly boasts that the pipeline could be “the first major fos- sil-fuel project ever shut down because of its effect on the climate.” If Keystone XL is scrapped, it will be despite the environmental promise of the project.
Evidence suggests that the project is less an environmental issue than an
Bullock worked with the staunchly con- servative Legislature to pass policies, which many thought would not happen anytime soon.
Bullock signed into law an expansion of Medicaid that allows lower wage earn- ers to help purchase single-payer health- care while using federal money to pay the vast majority of the bills.
Bullock convinced the Legislature to pass the last water compact, helping finalize statewide adjudication of water rights. Judging by the record drought that is crippling agriculture in places like California, a water war is brewing and states that adjudicated water rights will fare much better.
Bullock also signed into law a bill to require more transparency for election spending, ending dark money for state elections. The law is a direct reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court rulings that said some could spend unlimited amounts of undisclosed money to sway voters.
Those were impressive policy advance- ments that people across Montana call progress. Couple those achievements with Bullock’s fiscal frugality and record job creation makes him a consequential leader.
thing positive to say about recent issues like marriage and health care. Many want issues like health care and marriage to remain divisive pawns, for politics sake.
Given this kind of affirmative move- ment it’s easy to see why American vot- ers elected leaders to move the state and nation forward. Voters want trustworthy people like Bullock or Obama at the helm. They serve to backstop plenty of bad bills, but are also willing to collaborate and move us forward.
On many issues, some are stuck living in the past. It’s time to move on and con- quer the biggest ecological treat to our way of life, a rapidly changing climate.
Not many political victories are easy to achieve. Many take decades of activism by real people across America. If people want change, continued advocacy is a must.
Many of the social justice issues facing our country are far from fixed. From rac- ism to prisons to brutality on the streets, there is plenty of work ahead. Celebrate now but engage again; we cannot rest upon our laurels if the goal is justice and liberty for all Americans.
“A STRONG MAJORITY OF VOTERS SUPPORT THE CONSTRUCTION OF KEYSTONE XL. THEY HAVE HEARD THE BEST ARGUMENTS FROM BOTH SIDES AND CHOSEN COMMON SENSE.”
Robert L. Bradley Jr. is CEO and founder of the Institute for Energy Research.
Mike (Uncommon Ground) Jopek and Dave (Closing Range) Skinner often fall on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to political and outdoor issues. Their columns alternate each week in the Flathead Beacon.
JULY 8, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
29