POLITICO: Does Al Gore have legitimate gripes with Obama?

The BPC’s Paul Bledsoe joined the debate on POLITICO’s “The Arena” forum over Al Gore’s recent criticism of President Obama on climate policy:

I disagree with Gore here. Obama has consistently made a compelling case for climate action based on the science and has fought in Congress and internationally for robust policies to cut emissions and promote clean energy. The administration’s failing on climate has in fact been political — not being willing to negotiate and accept a less than perfect but hugely important bill in the last Congress as the economy faltered, and ending up with almost nothing.

This overreach regarding the politics of the possible has contributed to the partisan polarization on the issue, allowing Republicans and some Democrats to parody the administration policies rather than forcing them to confront the science and negotiate in good faith. Now the case for action and for smart policy needs to be remade on a bipartisan basis.

Click here to read Bledsoe’s quote in a New York Times article on Gore’s comments.