Pete Domenici's myopia

The New York Times, like the Wall Street Journal and a few others, is a happy exception to the rule that American newspapers would rather boost business than question it.

The Times demonstrated that again last Sunday with a long takeout on how the United States descended into energy hell. In a piece headlined "Asleep at the Spigot," reporter Nelson D Schwartz elaborated Washington’s failure to stem our growing dependence on imported oil despite warnings dating back to the 1970s. To do so, he talked with our own Senator Pete Domenici, whose comments are valuable.

First, Domenici, admirably takes responsibility. He tells Schwartz today’s squeeze might have been "prevented or ameliorated had we chosen to act differently." Then he shares the responsibility: "It was a bipartisan failure to act."

New Mexico’s senior senator and senior Republican doesn’t minimize the seriousness of our situation, either. "We’ve got to fix it or our standard of living will change within a decade. Oil was too damn cheap…"

I have sensed recently that Domenici, long an admirer of corporate America, is speaking his mind more forcefully as his last term winds down; a case in point being his recent full-throated defense of big oil. Yet what he told the Times suggests he’s lost confidence in Detroit’s auto giants. He told Schwartz "They all said to us: ‘don’t change CAFE. It’ll come when it’s supposed to.’ That’s baloney."

The carmakers, Domenici added, "talked a good research game" but did little.

That may be what it seems - justifiable anger - or buck-passing or a bit of both. Do I detect, too, a hint of innocence? Did St. Pete expect too much of Detroit’s corporate chiefs? Jack Kennedy’s disappointment with leaders of commerce comes to mind. "My father always told me," JFK said, "that all businessmen were sons of bitches but I never believed it till now."

In any case, Domenici protected Detroit against higher fuel efficiency standards until last year. That, he told Schwartz, was a mistake. The senator’s ability to admit error is refreshing. But Domenici went on, "We were like everybody else. We should have been more active on CAFE sooner."

Like "everybody else?"

To be fair, he didn’t mean "everybody," he meant the folks he spoke to and relied upon.

I don’t know their names, but they had to be business leaders. They could not have been scientists (surprising, given the senator’s closeness to our national laboratories) nor environmentalists.

Which might explain the senator’s myopia, an inability to see past the short-term health of businesses to the long-term health of the economy and the planet.

Still, as he takes his bows, I come not to debate the senator but to wonder if he might extend his public service. Pete Domenici knows how Washington works.

Perhaps, health permitting, the senator could teach a class at UNM. Perhaps – and better yet - he might team up with historians, making a gift of his unique perspective to the future.

print Share

Register or log in to rate