Obama, Congress get a good laugh about climate change, then move on

Jobs … health care … national debt … education … and … and … am I missing something?

In his 7,000 word State of the Union speech last night, President Obama mentioned the climate a mere three times. And each time, it was in passing.

To see the contrast, he mentioned business 30 times, jobs 23 times and health 14 times. Even education was verbalized five times.

He made sure to come out with strong new ideas on how to bring forth new jobs through tax incentives, create better schools through reforms, bring down the deficit through limits. But climate change? All it got was a hearty laugh.

When Obama said “I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change,” the room bubbled with laughter. While the president attempted to find the middle ground on a multitude of other issues, all he could do is acknowledge the great divide between believers and nonbelievers on climate change and move on.

Never mind the world is watching and waiting for us to step up – and pull China with us – to put some emission standards together. Never mind Copenhagen was deemed a failure by most, and a climate conference set for this summer doesn’t have much brighter prospects as of now.

Obama said he was “grateful to the House for passing a (clean energy) bill last year. And this year I’m eager to help advance the bipartisan effort in the Senate.”

But how? How is he going to make climate change into a bipartisan issue? It’s not impossible, let’s hope, but you’d think the State of the Union would be the perfect time to start toward that end. Talk about how far clean energy has come, and how – just like the economy – it will take an investment to reach success. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait until the economy is back on track before climate change is taken seriously. Otherwise, we’re in for a long wait.