Barack Obama's energy message failed

If President Barack Obama is going to sell Congress and the American public on energy legislation, he should forget the words “climate change,” Sen. Richard Lugar said Monday.

Lugar is preparing his own energy measure this year, and while he offered the Clean Economy Summit few specifics, the Indiana Republican said he will keep “social inertia” and marketing in mind – something he said Obama failed to do.

Obama’s energy message was eclipsed by cap-and-trade in the public mind, said Lugar. “The Obama administration’s focus on carbon reductions caused almost any energy security proposal to be viewed through the prism of climate change,” he said.

“The theological adherence to climate orthodoxy among some and absolutist denial by others left little room for serious debate on energy questions,” Lugar added.

Using feedback from the “practical energy plan” he introduced last summer aimed at reducing dependence on foreign oil, Lugar is passing his new energy bill around to newly-elected senators.