THE ENERGY OPPORTUNITY - The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America's Future - page 207

i ght for change, they did not help. In many cases they seemed to be
playing both sides of the issue, remaining members of other groups
(like API and the Chamber of Commerce) that were actively lobbying
against every climate or oil-saving bill.
Blocking developments such as the Canadian oil sands, or shale
gas in the United States, didn't require coalitions with industry and
oil supporters or sixty votes within the U.S. Senate. To be certain,
they required new alliances, particularly between let -wing greens and
right-wing conservationists. But those coalitions could leverage existing
law to block development, and they could pressure governments to go
slow wherever the law didn't stand i rmly in the way.
h e problem with this calculus is that, even if all you care about is
curbing climate change, cut ing oil consumption, and growing clean
energy industries, these tactics can't get you very far. Dealing with cli-
mate change will require massive additions of new zero-carbon infra-
structure to the U.S. energy system. Cut ing oil consumption will require
mass adoption of ever more advanced vehicles. h ere is no way to ef ect
these changes just by stopping things. New technologies still require
government support, or at least penalties or restraints on other sources,
in order to l ourish. Creating those incentives ultimately requires seri-
ous legislation. (Bits and pieces can be accomplished through regulation
under existing law, but progress there is far more vulnerable to political
winds, because future regulators can reverse course.) Legislation, in turn,
requires broad coalitions, and the only way to build them is by doing
things that potential allies can embrace. For people who want to con-
front climate change and cut oil consumption, this means doing deals
with others who want to expand production of oil and gas.
Enthusiasts for oil and gas production, of course, are just as skepti-
cal of the people on the other side of the energy debate. Once again,
this is ot en well founded: many advocates of new and cleaner energy
sources have consistently pit ed themselves explicitly against all fos-
sil fuels. Some environmental groups have tried to draw natural gas
companies (and sometimes nuclear power producers) to their side by
pointing out that modest climate policies would help them gain at the
expense of coal. Advocates for increasing fuel economy standards some-
times at empt to ally with carmakers that would make money selling