Speaker Pelosi in Oregon

Oregonian editorial - September 15, 2007

The House speaker's Portland forum on global warming can only add to the momentum for change

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's stinging criticism of the Bush administration's Iraq policies grabbed all the headlines, and rightly so, upon her quick visit to Portland this week.

But the secondary story, the global warming forum that brought her to Oregon, is noteworthy, too -- not for any splashy pronouncements or revelations, but for what her visit meant for Oregonians and the nation as a whole.

First, and most obviously, her appearance provided an inescapable display of the newfound clout of Rep. Earl Blumenauer, the Democrat representing Portland's 3rd Congressional District. After a decade serving in a Congress controlled by Republicans, Blumenauer showed Wednesday he now has what it takes to get the most powerful woman in Washington, D.C., to travel to Portland and listen attentively to what Oregonians are doing about global warming.

Appropriately, Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore., participated in the forum, too, as a member of the House Energy-Commerce and Science-Technology committees. But Portland is Blumenauer's turf, and he was clearly the ringmaster at the green-energy show put on for Pelosi.

The 10-term congresswoman from San Francisco identified Blumenauer years ago as a kindred spirit on many issues. And last winter, one of her first acts after being named speaker-designate was the appointment of Blumenauer to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has broad jurisdiction over tax and trade issues.

Later, she picked Blumenauer as one of nine Democrats on her new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Last May the two of them and other panel members traveled to Greenland, Germany and Belgium to talk with leaders and scientists about ways of cutting carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases.

So there she was Wednesday at the Oregon Convention Center for an hour of brief presentations by Portland-area politicians, developers, business executives, agency directors and environmental advocates. Pelosi nodded appreciatively as she heard about new Oregon laws calling for greater use of renewable energy, about the role of street cars in encouraging high-density development, about the city's successful promotion of bicycle commuting and about Portland's cutting-edge work on energy-efficient "green" construction.

Pelosi had been to Portland a number of times previously and had already seen the city's developing transportation alternatives to the automobile, so there was no tour on Wednesday's agenda. But her brief exposure to Oregonians who are actually getting the job done was a first for the House speaker.

"This is very invigorating to me," Pelosi said, and quite convincingly, as the program ended.

Not bad words to hear from a leader who can actually help change this nation's shortsighted energy policies.

Read the Gavel's coverage of passage of the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act and the Renewable Energy Resources Amendment, or see our comprehensive Energy Independence issues page.