Jimmy Carter to testify in SFRC meeting on energy

[Mass]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/05/carter_to_addre.html

Ask most Americans about former President Jimmy Carter and energy, and they'll probably recall the long gas lines during the 1970s Arab oil embargo and the 1979 "malaise" speech in which he outlined his plan for energy efficiency and reducing oil imports.

Tuesday, he is being called upon to offer a "historical review"of US efforts to address energy security before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

�President Carter has an unparalleled understanding of the depth and scope of the energy security challenges facing our nation, and we are honored to welcome him to the committee,� committee Chairman John F. Kerry said in a statement announcing Carter's appearance.

�This hearing will launch a series of targeted investigations into the manifestations and implications of our dependence on foreign oil, as well as the geopolitical challenges associated with current patterns of global energy flows.�

Hopefully, I will be able to see that live (both for the topic of the meeting and for Carter), but I certainly will watch it later if not. These issues are incredibly important.

[karynnj]

1. It is so good to see Jimmy Carter treated with the honor and respect he deserves

The best real sign of respect is something like this. I remember Kerry praised him in his Faneuil Hall energy/environment speech - and then refered to the years of Bush/Clinton and Bush as the "years the locusts ate". I had never heard that Churchill Hill phrase but it perfectly describes the wasted time.

[MBS]

10. Yup, exactly what I think, too.

Very gracious (and appropriate) for JK to invite Carter to speak.

[wisteria]

2. I remember President Carter trying to set limits and encourage conservation.

He was mocked by Republicans and as soon as he lost to Regan the entire issue was ignored. In some ways we can blame the Republican party and their leader at the time- Regan for what we now have to deal with. One step forward- two steps back.

[karynnj]

3. Not directly related - but this German town would represent a wonderful future

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/earth/12suburb.html?em

If this were a town in an area where I lived, I would move there in an instant, if it were affordable - now, as we are getting older and in the past, when I had kids.

[karynnj]

4. Here is the entire schedule - and it looks great It will be carried on CSPAN-3

ENERGY SECURITY:
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
AND MODERN CHALLENGES
HEARING
before the

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Time: 2:00 P.M.
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Building
Presiding: Senator Kerry


Witnesses:

Panel 1:
+The Honorable Jimmy Carter
Former President of the United States
Plains, Georgia

Panel 2:
+Frederick W. Smith
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
FedEx Corporation
Memphis, Tennessee
+General Charles F. Wald, USAF (Ret.)
Senior Fellow
Bipartisan Policy Center
Washington, D.C.

In addition to Carter, the people testifying are interesting. Smith, is extremely conservative - and a long time close friend of Kerry. Wald was a co-author of a report on the national security impact of global warming. To me, this looks like Kerry is trying to put the arguments that can win over the other side front and center.

Fred Smith, who is a Kerry friend from Yale - even though he openly supported Bush and is VERY conservative - was important at a hearing on CAFE standards in 2006 - the year Snowe and Kerry managed to negotiate a major increase in the standards - here is an article posted here - thanks Wisteria -, from that time:

"Memphis-based FedEx Corp., which operates 77,000 vehicles and spends $3 billion a year on fuel, has 93 hybrid-electric vehicles in its fleet, and is supporting efforts to refine the technology. The hybrids, however, cost $35,000 more than a conventional delivery vehicle, said FedEx Chairman and CEO Frederick W. Smith. Widespread deployment is "impossible," he said, with that kind of cost disparity.
Smith, who co-chairs the Energy Security Leadership Council, supports higher fuel economy standards, as long as they're tailored to specific types of vehicles.

"I rarely come to Washington to argue for government regulation," Smith told Kerry's committee.
But the free market "has not -- and will not -- adequately motivate the investments necessary to protect the nation in the event of an oil crisis," he said. "As such, mandating improvements in the fuel economy of our cars and trucks is one critical and unavoidable step that Americans must take if we are to halt our national descent into unmitigated oil dependence."

General Wald was one of the 3 and 4 star officers who wrote a report that analyzed the national security impact of global warming. Senator Biden chaired a hearing with the officers at Senator Kerry's request. Here is a fantastic summary of that hearing from the Kerry blog - http://www.johnkerry.com/blog/entry/live_blogging_climate_change/

General Charles F. Wald, USAF (Ret), who was formerly a deputy commander in Africa and the Middle East, sees Africa as the biggest problem. The fear is of giant migrations as water and food become scarce. Darfur partially started due to climate change, where people migrated as land became unusable. The alternation of floods and droughts in Somalia led to problems there, which causes extremism to grow. Wald said, “Climate change is a threat multiplier everywhere.”

[Luftmensch067]

5. C-SPAN 3 says they're showing it live!

Schedule says, starting at 2 -- we shall see... :-)

[Luftmensch067]

6. No longer listed on their online schedule!

So either they've thought better of it or decided to add it in later?

[karynnj]

7. It's still on their front page - with a picture of Jimmy Carter

http://cspan.org/

saying CSPAN 3 at 2 pm - you will be able to live stream it from the link in that section.

[Luftmensch067]

8. Thanks! n/t

[karynnj]

9. I posted a Daily Kos diary on this

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/12/730526/--Live-blog:-Carter-and-more-at-important-SFRC-hearing-today-

[Luftmensch067]

13. Excellent diary!

I'm really enjoying liveblogging with you over there! Thanks for doing this.

[YvonneCa]

11. Okay. So if President Carter calls...

...JK "President Kerry", I guess the rest of us can be forgiven? :7

[ObamaKerryDem]

12. LOL, I loved when SOS Clinton almost called him that during her confirmation hearing! :p

Best Freudian slip ever. :D

Watching the hearing right now. Caught the later part of President Carter's testimony and am watching the other panel now. Very interesting.

[YvonneCa]

14. "It's about oil." Testimony referring to our involvement...

...in conflicts in recent years. VERY interesting. BTW, President Carter's reference to 'President Kerry' is right at the very beginning of the hearing...worth catching the replay. :7

[ObamaKerryDem]

16. Ohh, so Carter actually said it to Kerry himself? LOL! I love it. :D

Will definitely try for a replay for sure! :p Thanks!

[YvonneCa]

18. Yes. Freudian slip...

...maybe? :7

[ObamaKerryDem]

17. Watching the replay on C-span.org now and just saw that part. I love it! :D

The Senator looked touched. :) The Former President knows who the worthy one was in THAT election..


I really liked JK's opening statement. He pointed out so many truths. I'm so glad we again have an administration/Congress who are willing to take on these issues. It's about time!

[YvonneCa]

19. His opening statement was really...

...good. I think it is SO important that people come to understand how energy policy is a national security issue. President Carter and the second panel did a great job of making that case.

"...the worthy one..." in that election. Yes, it seems the former president knows. ;)

[ObamaKerryDem]

27. Yes, indeed. The two issues go hand in hand much of the time, if you think about it.

And it was so nice to see both Carter and Kerry getting the honors and respect they each deserve; seeing them together like that was pretty awesome, too. Two great men. :)

[Muttocracy]

20. Photo of 2 presidents :)

WASHINGTON - MAY 12: Former US President Jimmy Carter (L) arrives at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing with Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) on Capitol Hill May 12, 2009, in Washington, DC. The committee is hearing testimony from the former president on US energy independence and security.

[wisteria]

21. I am saving this photo- it has the two men I admire most in Washinton

for their honesty and integrity- heros and patriots both.

[beachmom]

15. Some articles are up:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/12/carter.energy/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former President Carter warned members of Congress on Tuesday that America's failure to achieve energy independence is threatening the country's national security, undermining its long-term potential for economic growth and contributing to global warming.


Former President Carter said Tuesday that the United States must end its energy-based vulnerability.

"Collectively, nothing could be more important than this question of energy," Carter said during a rare presidential appearance before a congressional committee.

"I would guess that our entire status as a leading nation in the world will depend on the role that we play in energy and environment in the future."

Carter, who famously declared "the moral equivalent of war" over energy independence in 1977, told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that it was crucial to end the country's "vulnerability to possible pressures and blackmail."

Right now, he noted, "whether we admit it or not, we are very careful not to aggravate our major oil suppliers."

...

Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, opened the hearing by noting that the price of a barrel of oil has fallen $90 below the record high hit in summer 2008. Unfortunately, Kerry added, the "political will to take decisive action has dissipated" as each past energy crisis has subsided.

Carter "had the courage to tell the truth to Americans set America on the right path in the 1970s," Kerry said. "Regrettably, the ensuing years saw those efforts unfunded stripped away."

There is an old video of Carter plus Carter's opening statement:

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/05/carter_to_addre.html

Kerry's opening statement is below Carter's.

[wisteria]

22. Here is an additional one from the WP.

From Dana Milbanks- I don't understand why he feels he has to take pot shots at Carter and Kerry- is it just that he doesn't like covering hearings?
Oh, and he makes a big blunder writing that Senator Kerry is chairman of the Arms Committee and not the SFRC. A big mistake for someone suppose to be covering hearings as a major part of his job. I guess he was to busy trying to come up with snark.


"Calling Jimmy Carter to testify about energy security, it might seem, is a bit like calling Michael Vick to testify about pet care.

But John Kerry is a gambler, and the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee invited the 39th president to talk to his panel about his cardigan-wearing days in the White House -- and why the nation, 30 years later, still hasn't solved its energy problems.

For a resurgent Democratic Party, the move risked all kinds of unpleasant imagery: gas lines, fuel shortages, the Iran hostage crisis, malaise. Even members of the committee staff joked about whether the former president would show up wearing a sweater, as he did when he appeared on television to urge Americans to lower their thermostats."




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/12/AR2009051203416.html?hpid=news-col-blog

[Inuca]

23. Milbanks is an asshole

sorry for the limited (and foul-mouthed) contribution to this very interesting thread, and thanks to all for the info I would not have gotten otherwise. What would I do without you guys :-)?

[karynnj]

24. Wow, the paragraph you cite shows that Milbank doesn't have the intellectual honesty

to reconsider conventional wisdom. The fact is there is more than ample reason to see that Carter was right with conservation in the late 1970s. It was the arrogant Reagan people, who thought it was some kind of God given right to consume something about a fourth of the annual oil used, who had it wrong.

I dislike the Carter doctrine, that we will protect "our" oil supply at all costs, but I see a huge difference having that the policy for a temporary period while we transition to alternative fuels as quickly as possible - compared to having that as a policy indefinitely. Lugar made the case that the "Carter doctrine" is why we had the first Gulf War, which really was a cause of the second Iraq War.

It is amazing that Millbank got the committee wrong. As to a gamble, how is having a former President giving his insight a gamble. This seems more like Millbank wanting people to keep the labels assigned them by the media. Carter = loser, but I don't recall that he raised an eyebrow when all the "wise men" from GHWB's administration are called in as experts. Given that GHWB had a 33% approval rating when he left office and pardoned several high officials on the way out, where was Milbank pointing out that Cheney (GHWB's Secretary of Defense) would bring up all the negative images of that morally bankrupt administration. Not to mention, that there is absolutely no risk to bring ANYONE before a Senate hearing. What's the worse thing that could happen?

[beachmom]

25. Guys, this shows a hilarious reality: Dana Millbank is STALKING John Kerry in the Senate!

He has written 3 articles about Kerry hearings. At this point, guys, all publicity is good publicity. I mean, I have been pretty disappointed that even PBS News Hour has not covered ANY of these SFRC hearings. So although that article stinks big time, at least it acknowledges that John Kerry is doing something in the Senate. And really, this means that Mr. Millbank has been trudging over to Kerry's hearing room quite a bit, which in and of itself is quite interesting.

What was most regrettable about his column was the way he put down Carter. A friend of mine volunteered for the Carter Center (he was an election observer) and had the honor of meeting Jimmy Carter. He HIGHLY respects Carter, and agrees with Jimmy Carter's bold assertion a few years ago. When Carter was asked what was his biggest mistake during his presidency, his answer was not getting re-elected.

[karynnj]

26. Excellent points

and important when as many pointed out in articles on newspapers, fewer reporters are covering DC.

[wisteria]

28. Yes, good points. And President Carter's comment was to the point. n/t