In Defense of Clean Energy

The New York Times

After months of standing by as Republicans tried to gut environmental laws and discredit his clean energy initiatives, President Obama took the offensive in his State of the Union address. He blasted Republicans for their single-minded commitment to fossil fuels, argued the case for a diversified energy strategy and dared to talk about climate change, a topic he has been silent on for months.

He has little chance of persuading Congress to go along with most of his sensible proposals, including those to extend and enlarge subsidies for alternative fuels and cut subsidies for the oil industry. He is right to do as much as he can on his own, opening up more federal land to wind and solar installations and pushing the military to draw more of its energy from renewable sources.