How Will Gulf Spill Affect Energy Debate? A Chat With Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter

Politics is nothing but the art of timing and opportunity. Opponents of drilling are hoping that now, in the wake of a worsening environmental catastrophe, might be their best opening to make a credible and convincing case that the time to shift to renewable energy is now, and there are 200,000 barrels' worth of reasons currently spewing in the Gulf of Mexico. The White House said late last week that it would be reevaluating its drilling policy articulated last month with a potential pivot to be announced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. In the meantime, the Blue Green Alliance, a top Washington environmental advocacy group, hopes to make the case at a conference on green energy (coincidentally timed) that the spill underscores the imperative of moving quickly.

Kicking off the conference was Bill Ritter, Colorado's cowboy-boot-clad governor, who says his state's recent investments in clean natural gas and renewables could be—and should be—the model for the country. And that while the gulf spill has been horrific, it helps to recalibrate the debate. NEWSWEEK caught up with Ritter in Washington. Excerpts:

How much does the gulf spill help advocacy for clean energy?
There are a confluence of events that make the timing here excellent from the perspective of where we need to go in respect to energy policy. We've been driving a clean-energy agenda in a broad way. This shows we really need to address the environmental challenges and how you use economic development as part of the energy agenda. There's a variety of events that have happened in recent months that drive home why we need to stay focused on this agenda.

So how should these environmental incidents change the energy debate?
People need to understand the relationship between energy diversification, economic development, and addressing environmental challenges. The oil spill is a tragic event, but it puts an exclamation point on the dangers inherent in drilling in the ocean. This helps us argue that natural gas is so much cleaner and can do so much to address our environmental challenges.

If the vision is to limit ourselves from drilling and coal, what does the energy recipe look like?
One thing we did in Colorado was transition from coal to natural gas as a way to think about using a domestic supply of fuel. And it's cleaner-burning. If you take the inefficient coal plants in the U.S. and transition those over a short amount of time to natural gas, you can do away with the [pollutants] and the mercury. Some people talk about nuclear, but that's a longer-term strategy. What we’re talking with renewables is a shorter time span.

It's still tough to get around the low price of coal and oil, at least for now.
First of all, coal is cheap because Congress has failed to price carbon. The day it does that, either through cap-and-trade or cap-and-dividend, coal will no longer be cheaper. You price coal at the right place where you take the external cost of the emissions and, frankly, it's not cheaper.

So what should Congress's game plan be from here?
I'm supportive of energy legislation that's integrated with climate legislation. We need an energy and climate policy. Natural gas is key. It’s a domestic resource that's plentiful and cleaner-burning. I'm hoping the Senate will act on legislation that has climate goals that it uses to develop and energy policy, in that order, to allow us to reach the goals we need around greenhouse-gas emissions reduction.

Colorado's process has been very partisan. How do you get Republicans on board?
Well, we don't have a cloture vote in Colorado, which helps a lot. Look, there's great potential for economic development here. But if the Republicans want to be the party of industry, the party of business, they really need to pay close attention to how the United States could lose its competitive edge globally if we don't innovate. And this [oil spill] shows we need to do it soon.