By Douglas Bloomfield
At this writing, Congressional Democrats planned to wrap up their 100 hours agenda with the introduction of an energy initiative raising royalties on federal oil and gas leases and repealing some of the tax breaks the Bush administration and Republican-led Congress gave the industry in 2004.
So far, the House of Representatives has passed bills on the minimum wage, Medicare prescription drug prices, stem cell research and fighting terrorism, and adopted new ethics and lobbying rules. This week it was scheduled to take up cutting student loan interest rates plus the energy measure.
It has been many years since Jewish organizations have witnessed so much progress on their legislative priorities, but getting many of these initiatives through the Senate will be tough.
Each Jewish group has its own issues, more often defined by its own parochial interests than larger community needs. And with each staking out turf — essentially for the bragging rights for fund raising appeals and media mentions — there is little cooperation or coordination.
Some will declare victory with passage of the energy bill, but it faces an uncertain future in the Senate and resistance from an administration run by and for oilmen. Moreover, it represents only a limited first step toward solving a huge problem that threatens this nation and Israel.
We will never be completely free of foreign oil — Mexico and Canada are our two top sources. But we should not continue to permit our insatiable appetite to be used to arm our enemies, fund foreign terrorists and allow erstwhile allies to blackmail us.
United clout
“Energy should be at the top of the Jewish community’s agenda. It is a critical issue that affects our national security as well as Israel’s, our environment and our economy,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The community must put energy independence at the top of its lobbying agenda, bringing together its political, intellectual and financial clout.
Congressional and presidential candidates are going to be spending a lot of time wooing the Jewish community between now and Nov. 4, 2008. Instead of settling for platitudes about friendship with Israel, we should challenge all of them to make energy reform a top priority.
The Bush administration has written energy policy behind locked doors with its industry cronies and contributors. It went all the way to the Supreme Court to protect their identity.
President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top administration figures became multi-millionaires in the industry. Chevron even named a supertanker for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, one of its directors.
Was it a coincidence that gas prices hit record highs last summer and then began going down shortly before the elections, only to rise again shortly afterwards?
“We really don’t have an energy policy,” said Martin Lobel, a Washington lawyer and energy expert. “Everyone talks a good game, but no one is willing to bite the bullet and do what has to be done, and they won’t until they understand the issues. The first job for the Jewish community is to start educating about cost, benefits, implications and needs.”
The Bush administration has focused on new domestic drilling to cut dependence on imported oil, but not our overall demand for oil.
Experts like Lobel say there is no single answer. What’s needed is conservation, exploration, financial investment in renewable and alternative resources, hybrid vehicles, mass transit, higher gas taxes and other methods of reducing demand for oil.
Some Jewish organizations have dabbled in the issue, mostly on the fringes. A few stand out for having made more serious efforts.
The American Jewish Committee made energy a centerpiece of its legislative agenda. It is practicing what it preaches by greening its New York headquarters and giving bonuses to employees who buy or lease hybrid cars.
The American Jewish Congress calls energy independence “an important Jewish issue.” It successfully pushed the U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation Act in the last Congress to fund alternative energy research in Israel.
But missing is a concerted national Jewish legislative strategy and a willingness to challenge powerful politicians in both parties whose idea of energy policy is giving the oil barons more of what they want.
The challenge will be getting the major organizations into the same boat, with each pulling at its own oar like a team member.
We need a Jewish Coalition for Energy Independence. And I don’t care how much ex-President Jimmy Carter and other critics of Jewish political activism kvetch.
Let them see that there really is a strong and committed Jewish community with the power to fundamentally change American policy.
Douglas M. Bloomfield is a Washington, D.C.-based syndicated columnist and a former chief lobbyist for American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
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