Bill Clinton on Climate Change, Afghanistan Posted by Adam Blickstein

Last night I had the opportunity to hear President Clinton's thoughts on a wide range of subjects, both domestic and foreign, ahead of the Clinton Global Initiative Conference which kicks off tonight in New York. While he eruditely discussed the importance of coffee production in Malawi or the damaging effect of deforestation, he also touched upon several of the hot button topics that are dominating the headlines in DC and across the country: health care, climate change legislation, and Afghanistan.

On climate change, Clinton asserted that one critical area that wasn't getting enough attention legislatively is expanding efficiency standards. He cited a McKinsey study that stated if the U.S. spent 5 times more on efficiency standards, it would result in "$600 billion in energy costs by 2020...[and] cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by about 1.1 gigatons annually -- or the equivalent of taking the entire fleet of U.S. vehicles off the road."  With the current political climate, such a massive increase in spending on expanding efficiency seems unlikely, at least legislatively. But Clinton also said that while Obama has wisely used Executive Orders in the past, he has far more latitude to use Executive Orders on climate issues should the legislation fall short. While I agree that President Obama can and should use such a tactic if the political will isn't there in Congress, it would embolden the absurd attacks from the right that Obama is bypassing the legislature and abusing his executive authority. The political tradeoff would be worth it though, since such attacks are going to made regardless. And good policy, in the face of a discredited opposition, should be made a high priority.

He also spoke at length about Afghanistan, addressing his assesment of the efficacy of a counter-insurgency strategy there. President Clinton made clear that COIN would only work in Afghanistan if the people of Afghanistan were on board with the mission and there was an Afghan government with real popular support from the people. He made a point that conservatives often forget, that the reason the surge and COIN strategy worked in Iraq wasn't purely a military one, but that the Iraqi people got fed up with al Qaeda's influence and deleterious effect on the country. In other words, it is crucial for the people to back American military efforts to root out the extremist elements, and there needs to be robust support from a viable government for this to succeed. It's clear that in Afghanistan, both crucial elements are far from certain.

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I heard former U.S. President Bill Clinton said he would have preferred to leave the White House in a coffin because he loved being commander in chief, but signaled his political life was over...