Why Scott Brown Might Not Be the End of Green

by Chris Santiago · 2010-01-24 07:41:00 UTC
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Scott Brown's Republican victory in deep-blue Massachusetts has Democrats full of doom and gloom, and given Brown's vow to take down health care reform, the clouds seem called for. But there's at least one part of the progressive agenda that might not be as dead as the pundits would have us believe: protecting the environment.

Just who is Scott Brown? Well, 26 years after stripping down for Cosmo, Massachusetts state senator Scott Brown received an 82 percent score from the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters (better than many state Democrats). A year before that, Brown received a perfect score from the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Brown has also said that he backs solar and wind technology, and supported the Green Communities Act, a bill that "encouraged long-term contracts for clean energy providers."

But before we get on the Brown bandwagon and start calling him the Republican Al Gore, it's important to note that on most climate issues, Brown is a blank slate. When it comes down to a proposed cap-and-trade bill, he could be as fickle or pig-headed as the judges his daughter faced on American Idol.

On the other hand, even if Brown turns out to be not-so-Earth-friendly, climate legislation has already enjoyed more bipartisan support than the health care bill, so I wouldn't count it out.

Remember that Democrats over the last couple of election cycles have tapped conservative candidates to win in red and battleground states, only to find these folks dragging their feet on, or even voting against, progressive issues like health care reform. In the same way, conservatives who are pumped up about Scott Brown might just be disappointed to find that the man who turned Ted Kennedy's seat from blue to red votes green.

Chris Santiago is a freelance writer and editor. He most recently worked at McGraw-Hill and "got green" at Oberlin College.
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