White House aide’s 9/11 conspiracy theories cloud his future. It’s not easy being green.

He is the green jobs czar at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the aide who’s supposed to offer inspiration and input on how to convert the nation’s creaky, Saudi-dependent oil economy into the idyllic bliss of energy independence.

Van Jones is much respected in enviro circles, praised for his bestselling book, “The Green Collar Economy.”  Former Vice President Al Gore told the New Yorker, “I love Van Jones.” And actor Leonardo DiCaprio said of him in Time magazine, “Steadily -- by redefining green -- Jones is making sure that our planet and our people will not just survive but also thrive in a clean-energy economy.”

But right now Van Jones is in a toxic dump full of trouble.

Wednesday he had to apologize after video surfaced of an appearance he made in Berkeley in February in which he called Republicans an anatomical expletive deemed inappropriate for this family newspaper, which this isn't but rules are rules.

Then Thursday the Yale University grad, a onetime Marxist who was arrested during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, was forced to issue a statement apologizing for his signature on a petition. The petition, to then-New York Atty Gen. Eliot Spitzer, urged an investigation into whether 9/11 was an inside job by George W. Bush to soften public opinion for a war in Iraq.

“In recent days some in the news media have reported on past statements I made before I joined the administration -- some of which were made years ago,” he said in the statement. “If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize. As for the petition ... I do not agree with this statement and it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever.”

Score one for Glenn Beck, the Fox News commentator who has been hammering on Jones for days. Take a look.

Turns out, as our friends at The Times’ Show Tracker noted, that Jones co-founded Color of Change, an African American political advocacy group that organized an advertising boycott of Beck’s show. 

They used to say that the power of the press belonged to those who owned one. I guess these days it’s those who have the loudest megaphone.

 Either way, the White House is standing by Jones, for now.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Obama visits Elkhart, Ind. (population: out of work)

 

President Obama visited Elkhart, Ind., today, a city with one of the fastest rising unemployment rates in the nation, to dole out fresh dollars from Washington and make the case that his $787-billion stimulus package is working.

Unemployment in the Elkhart-Goshen metropolitan area, 4.8% at the end of 2007, had rocketed up to 18.9% by March. That's when manufacturing employment in the area, which centers on the slumping recreational vehicle industry, hit an 18-year low of 44,900 jobs. Obama conceded, "Elkhart has been hit with a perfect storm of economic troubles."

Speaking at a Navistar plant in nearby Wakarusa, Obama said that, thanks to a $39-million government grant, the factory that once made Monaco Coach RVs will now be able to build battery-powered vehicles, part of what he called a green innovation agenda.

"I don't want to have to import a hybrid car, I want to build one here," he said. "I want the technologies to be developed here in America."

As the president made his second trip in six months to Elkhart, Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu were also on the road, bringing news of battery technology grants to Detroit and Charlotte, N.C. Other Cabinet officials too were fanning out across the country, announcing $2.4 billion in competitive grants to promote the green economy.

"If we want to reduce our dependence on oil, put Americans back to work and reassert our manufacturing sector as one of the greatest in the world, we must produce the advanced, efficient vehicles of the future," the president said. "We have to harness the potential — the innovative and creative spirit that's waiting all across America."

It was vintage Obama, the Obama of hope, evocative of his speeches on the campaign trail last year.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Jason Reed / Reuters

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McCain leads charge against popular cash-for-clunkers program

The cash-for-clunkers program is a huge hit with consumers, especially the tight-budgeted among us who have been holding on to cars that get less than 18 miles per gallon. All over the country, dealers have reported great traffic as car buyers rush in to get the federally subsidized $4,500 for trading in their gas guzzlers and buying a new fuel-efficient car. Helps the environment. Helps the car industry. Even helps the junkyard industry, recipients for the old heaps.

Last week the Obama administration realized the government was fast running out of money for the program, originally budgeted at $1 billion. (Germany, with a smaller economy, recently budgeted $7 billion for a similar program there, and auto sales increased faster than traffic on the Autobahn.) So the House rushed to earmark $2 billion more before it left town last week, to keep the program going.

Now it's up to the Senate where, as car dealers might say, more money is by no means a done deal.

Arizona's favorite Republican maverick, John McCain, has, colleagues say, decided to lead the charge against putting any more money in the program. The issue: increasing debt in an unfair effort to subsidize the car industry over other deserving small businesses. 

"My children and grandchildren are going to have to pay for these cars and we’re helping auto dealers while there are thousands of other small businesses that aren’t getting the help,” said South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint on Fox News Sunday. “The role of the federal government is not to run the used car business.”

Noting that McCain "is going to stand up and try to stop it, " DeMint promised to "work with him every way that I can...This is a great example of the stupidity that's coming out of Washington right now, and I think Americans realize the numbers that we're throwing around don't work."

McCain's staffers confirmed that the senator will lead a filibuster against the idea. As the GOP's 2008 presidential candidate told Fox News last week, "Within a few weeks we will see that this process was abused by speculators and people who took advantage of what is basically a huge government subsidy of corporations that they already own."

If they do mount a drive against the cash-for-clunkers program, Republicans might find some unexpected support. Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill at first signaled in a tweet last week that she will oppose any extension. "We simply cannot afford any more taxpayr $ to extend cash for clunkers,” McCaskill said in a Twitter message. “Idea was to prime the pump, not subsidize auto purchases forever.”

She must have heard from a lot of dealers in the Show Me State because later the senator went back on Twitter, putting out a new tweet saying she would consider using existing stimulus funds to extend the Cash for Clunkers program.

"I will consider using EXISTING stimulus $ that has already been appropriated to finish up cash for clunker program," she said in her second tweet. "No new $."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo credit: Mel Evans / Associated Press, of car dealership; Senate staff photo of Sen. McCaskill

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From Italy, Obama tries to feel the love (transcript here)

Public opinion polls are showing a dip in the president's approval. Critics in Congress are piling on his healthcare plan. And lots of Americans are questioning why the mega-billion stimulus plan has not sparked a new era of job creation.

So the White House must have been less than thrilled at the timing of the Group of 8 meetings in Rome this week. Just at a time when he might have been needed politically on the home front, President Obama found himself in meetings with Russian officials in gilded halls in the Kremlin -- where those officials made sure the streets were empty of the usual Obamamania -- talking about climate control to a few European nations but without China, a critical player on the issue, and getting a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI in the august halls of the Vatican.

Even Obama, at a press conference from Rome, wondered about the wisdom of so many G-whatever meetings in so many forums to so little effect.

The one thing I will be looking forward to is fewer summit meetings, because, as you said, I've only been in office six months now and there have been a lot of these.  And I think that there's a possibility of streamlining them and making them more effective.  The United States obviously is a absolutely committed partner to concerted international action, but we need to, I think, make sure that they're as productive as possible.

The president also had a lot to say about healthcare, Iranian nuclear weapons and food security. You can read the full transcript below.

Then it was off with First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, to meet with the Pope, followed by a trip to Ghana, a country Obama praised as "a functioning democracy [with] a president who's serious about reducing corruption, and ... significant economic growth."

-- Johanna Neuman

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Photo: Activists perform in masks of President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Rome this week where the G-8 failed to get developing nations on board for climate control. Credit: Reuters

Al Gore likens global warming to Nazi threat

Al Gore is now comparing the battle against global warming to the fight against Adolf Hitler in World War II.

In a speech to students at Oxford on Tuesday, the former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate  conceded that there is still work to do to convince political leaders that the threat of climate change is as urgent as that from the Nazis. The Senate is beginning debate on a cap-and-trade bill to curb emissions, predicted to be an even tougher fight than in the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to twist arms and trade votes to win a narrow victory. Gore seemed to acknowledge the difficulty of converting grassroots passion into political will.

"The level of awareness and concern among populations has not crossed the threshold where political leaders feel that they must change," he said at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment. "The only way politicians will act is if awareness raises to a level to make them feel that it's a necessity."

Mindful of his British audience, Gore said the fight to cut carbon dioxide emissions will require a leader with the fortitude of Winston Churchill, who steered Britain through four years of hardship, bombings and economic deprivations to victory against the Nazis.

"Winston Churchill aroused this nation in heroic fashion to save civilization in World War II," he said.
"We have everything we need except political will, but political will is a renewable resource."

Not everyone was impressed.  At Fox News, as you can see from the clip above, they're still worried about global cooling.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Henry Waxman to be discharged from the hospital today, aides say

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), who was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday after fainting in his Los Angeles office, is being discharged from the hospital today and is expected to be back at work next week, a spokeswoman for the 69-year-old congressman said. She would not say what is ailing Waxman.

The 18-term congressman was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday and was kept there for evaluations and what was called “routine testing." 

Phil Schiliro, Waxman's former chief of staff (and the current White House liaison to Congress), said on Thursday that Waxman is "feeling fine and is in good spirits." Schiliro said he did not know what was wrong with Waxman but noted that "he takes great care of himself."

Waxman wields a great deal of power in Washington these days because he is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the energy and healthcare legislation crucial to President Obama's agenda. Waxman co-wrote an ambitious energy and climate-change bill that passed the House, 219 to 212, on June 26. And he is expected to help craft the chamber's healthcare legislation. 

We will keep you informed of updates on Waxman's health, when we hear them. In the meantime, check out the L.A. Times review of the congressman's recent book, "The Waxman Report: How Congress Really Works." The very complimentary review is written by the always erudite Times critic Tim Rutten (who rarely lavishes praise so freely).

-- Kate Linthicum

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Photo: Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) with members of his House Energy and Commerce Committee in May. Credit: Matthew Cavanaugh / European Pressphoto Agency

Weekly remarks: Obama happy on clean energy, GOP's Boehner worries on debt, taxes

:

Weekly Remarks of President Barack Obama, June 27, 2009

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a historic piece of legislation that will open the door to a clean-energy economy and a better future for America.

For more than three decades, we have talked about our dependence on foreign oil.  And for more than three decades, we have seen that dependence grow.  We have seen our reliance on fossil fuels jeopardize our national security.  We have seen it pollute the air we breathe and endanger our planet. 

And most of all, we have seen other countries realize a critical truth:  The nation that leads in the creation of a clean-energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. Now is the time for the United States of America to realize this too. Now is the time for us to lead. 

The energy bill that passed the House will finally create a set of incentives that will spark a clean-energy transformation in our economy.  It will spur the development of low-carbon sources of energy – everything from wind, solar and geothermal power to safer nuclear energy and cleaner coal. 

It will spur new energy savings, like the efficient windows and other materials that reduce heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer. And most importantly, it will make possible the creation of millions of new jobs. 

Make no mistake: This is a jobs bill. We’re already seeing why this is true in the clean-energy investments we’re making through the Recovery Act. In California, 3,000 people will be employed to build a new solar plant that will create 1,000 permanent jobs. In Michigan, investment in wind turbines and....

John McCain Twitters news of his new U.S. hybrid

Previously, The Ticket reported here that the Obama team of Democrats assigned to save the American auto industry actually prefers foreign models for themselves.

Now comes word that Republican Sen. John McCain, who has nothing to do with saving the U.S. auto industry, has bought a Ford Fusion Hybrid to replace his aging Cadillac CTS for tooling around Washington.

He chose a silver one.

With that, he’ll get about 41 MPG, a little less if he ever gets out on the open road of which there aren’t many in that area.

McCain, much mocked during the presidential campaign for not using a BlackBerry like his Democratic competitor, made the announcement in a Tweet today to his nearly 773,000 followers on Twitter. "Time to get a new car -- decided on the Ford Fusion Hybrid." And he provided a link to here.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Ford Motor Co.

Gov. Sarah Palin: Won't commit to 2010 reelection bid

While much of the recent attention on Alaska's Republican Gov. Sarah Palin has centered on her parental-political outrage with a CBS comedian over a sexual joke about her 14-year-old daughter, Palin does answer questions about other things, as she did today with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

As The Ticket often does to provide readers with complete context, we have added below the full transcript of Palin's wide-ranging satellite conversation on "Situation Room."

She's asked about the massive new gas pipeline project she's pushed, David Letterman, of course (she forgives him or hymn), but also her views on President Obama so far -- he's growing spending and debt far too fast. But she likes his drive for federal government efficiencies and wishes he'd show more "passion" in support of Israel while speaking to the Muslim world.

And she was asked about her own political future. Palin's not prepared to announce her 2010 reelection campaign intentions yet, which would provide a key clue to her possible presidential intentions. Although Palin has formed SarahPac to finance her political travels, to announce either way now would make her a premature target and feed charges that every move is politically tinged.

But as one result, other Alaskan politicians are positioning themselves for a governor's bid should she drop out. Another Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, recently announced he would not seek reelection next year, widely believed to give him time to start a GOP presidential campaign for 2012.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Full transcript of CNN interview with Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, June 12, 2009

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us now, the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Governor, thanks very much for coming in.

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-ALASKA): Thank you so much, Wolf.

BLITZER: You have a big energy deal that’s in the works right now, and you announced it with a lot of fanfare. A $26-billion natural gas pipeline which would bring natural gas from Alaska through Canada down to the Lower 48. Not everyone is enthused, including the Wall Street Journal.

They say this: "Among the most serious questions it faces is whether the Alaskan gas is even needed. North America is in the midst of a natural gas glut, driving down prices, and observers believe....

Who's Steven Chu? Some aren't sure when White House's economic goodwill tour hits Midwest

As members of President Obama's Cabinet continue their tour across the country’s heartland today – pledging millions of dollars in help – the trip of Washington goodwill has left local residents feeling more than a little skeptical.

Take folks in Fort Wayne, Ind., the state’s second-largest city. An estimated 24,000 people in the surrounding four-county area rely on the auto industry for their livelihood. Think most of them recognized Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, when he stopped into town yesterday to tour a “green” energy company and speak to local leaders? Nope.

In fact, quite a few people were confused about why the White House would be sending out Chu to this northeastern stretch of the Hoosier State instead of … well … Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis or someone from the automotive task force.

It could have been stranger. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar spent yesterday talking about the economic benefits of parks and conservation – in Cleveland, Ohio. Yep, that’s right: Cleveland, the Rust Belt town that blossomed on the backs of steel mills and auto facilities, and where the Cuyahoga River itself has caught fire because of industrial pollution.

So Fort Wayne got Chu, a 61-year-old Nobel-prize winner who reminisced Tuesday about how he last visited Indiana when he was a college student – and promised that green energy would turn around the Hoosier economy.

Chu spent his morning touring WaterFurnace International Inc., a local maker of geothermal heating and cooling systems for homes and commercial facilities. As Chu walked across the factory floor with company executives, workers in blue shop shirts stopped to stare at the slight man in a crisp suit.

 “Who’s he?” murmured one woman standing on the assembly line.

“Some guy saying GM isn’t going to save us,” replied her co-worker.