which is so eager to read Clinton’s actions in a negative light that it sometimes seems to be coming at the reader from some alternate policy universe. I mean, just consider the assumptions underlying this Her Way passage:
[M]any of the…experts Hillary consulted criticized the concept of energy independence as a “fantasy” or “counterproductive.” David Victor, a Stanford University energy expert who participated in her task force, understood the dilemma. Hillary was told about the “need to be serious about how the markets function,” yet like numerous other Democrats, she couldn’t resist the politically popular position of “beating up on the oil companies.” Ultimately, Hillary would make energy independence a cornerstone of her position. It sold well to a public increasingly worried about gas prices and global warming – even if ultimately it was just hot air.
That Hillary. Always pandering to the environmentalists! It’s a wonder the poor, beleaguered oil companies can turn a profit at all.
Seriously, though, one would have thought Victor a fan of “energy independence” rhetoric, as it’s recently been adopted by Big Coal, as Brad Plumer deftly explains, and Victor himself has previously touted the idea that the future belongs to coal plants that adopt carbon-sequestration policies.
–Garance Franke-Ruta
