Washington DC and Reflections on Energy Policy

Visits to Washington DC are bittersweet for me. I deeply enjoy the rich sense of freedom, justice, and opportunity that are the core values on which our great country is based. But there are constant reminders that the mechanics of the political process run counter to these values—that anyone with an uncorrupted sense of decency has been systematically removed and is nowhere to be found.

Take the subject of energy as an example. As Shell Oil’s ex-CEO John Hofmeister articulates so clearly, the current political environment effectively pushes candidates into one of two camps, both of which represent nonsensical solutions to our energy woes. In truth, we need to wean ourselves off oil by committing to innovation in clean energy. But who’s making that happen? Not the political right, steadfastly maintaining the fiction that we have plenty of oil and that there are no real issues associated with continuing to burn fossil fuels. Not the left, who somehow feel they cannot acknowledge the role of fossil fuels in sustaining economic stability in the short-term. 

I love to walk around the nation’s capital and take in all the grandeur: the stunning architecture – and the feeling that great things could happen, leading us in the direction of a sane future. But I’m overcome with dread: the cold reality that there are very few people who are honestly trying to make it happen.