Condi’s Energy Legacy
With the Annapolis Middle East Summit, many column inches across the nation were devoted to Secretary of State Rice’s “legacy.” While the conference was historic in that it simply occurred, the real diplomatic activity that might help define Condi’s tenure as SoS may be taking place on a little reported issue with regards to US Foreign policy, but very central to the Middle East, the War on Terror, Climate Change (a.k.a. “Global Warming”) and our economy. That issue is energy.
Secretary Rice has had the tough job of continuing to reject the flawed Kyoto Protocol in the face of widespread international support. Kyoto, although championed by Al Gore, was never actively promoted for ratification for years by the Clinton administration – even he realized that the one-sided impact of the treaty would be a severe competitive disadvantage for the US economy. (See, Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and The Elephant and the Dragon)
President George W. Bush opposes mandatory caps on greenhouse emissions, preferring voluntary goals. He believes the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases unfairly exempted rapidly developing countries and that ratifying it would have hurt the economy of the United States… Environmental News Network, article, “World Energy Revolution Needed for Climate,” Sept. 25, 2007
However, by combining the near global hysteria over global warming* to our own strategic energy interests that scream for alternatives to fossil fuels and a Democratically controlled Congress with few accomplishments to show voters in 2008, Dr. Rice has quietly (thanks to minimal press coverage), albeit slowly, started to enlist international and domestic support for a “global revolution” in energy. Her chief lieutenants for energy issues are Undersecretary for Energy, Economic and Agricultural Affairs Rueben Jeffrey (bio) who was sworn in just this past June. However, given Jeffery’s rather broad portfolio and relatively recent addition; it has been Gregory Manuel (State Dept., “Condoleezza Rice’s Energy Guy,” article EnergyBiz, PDF format), Condi’s Special Advisor to the Secretary and International Energy Coordinator since 2006 that has been her “go-to guy” for energy. Interestingly, both Jeffery and Manuel have post-graduate degrees from Stanford. According to an unnamed source, “If there is going to be a ‘fourth quarter energy legacy’ coming out of State, it’ll be the Secretary’s drive and direction and these two guys’ heavy lifting that gets it done.”
*Actually, “climate change” is the new “PC” term. It’s not a wise move to commit to whether the temperatures are going up or down, or whether the reason they are changing is air-conditioned soccer mom SUV’s, livestock flatulence, or the lack of human sacrifices to the sun god until the all the evidence is in, say in 10,000 years, or so. Or perhaps, it doesn’t really matter since our planet’s biosphere goes on a “blind date” with an asteroid every few millennia.