Going forward, supporters of Waxman-Markey bill must learn to manage both the transactions (operational influence in peddling a bill through the committee deliberations stages to the House and Senate debate floors) with transformation (changing the way opponents perceive the goal of the bill), for there to be widespread support for the bill at the stage of final voting. In getting the bill passed, there is a need for operational influence that is dynamic, not changing the content of the message but addressing the concerns of potential critics and making sure that concerns are immediately and effectively countered: point for point. This proactive approach requires constant reflection(s) as we debate the merits of the bill. The approach to the debates on the floors of both houses must be peppered with communication effectiveness and efficiency, while staying grounded with the spirit of the content of the bill and the ethos of democratic values. We must understand that nothing can be achieved on the Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, through unnecessary bickering on both house floors. What is needed is leadership and strategic influence that transforms the position of our opponents to true believers, who will in turn influence others to be more receptive of the contents of the bill.
Further, we must tout our leadership and strategic influence, through a process of micro and mega influence in sub-debates that are often going around in the offices of congresswomen and men, outside the open floor debates. We will do this by aligning our message on the bill with the goal, objectives, and the spirit of other bills under construction in various staff offices of congressmen and women. We must listen to opponents’ opinions at each stage of the floor debates on the bill and attempt to integrate some of their preferences into the reworking of the bill without damaging the real message (goals and objectives) of the Waxman-Markey bill. Just as current committee deliberations had gone through a bull work of criticism, we must move our support of the bill with deliberate and innovative ideas that build ultimate support and consensus from a greater chunk of the voting members on the floors of both houses. We must work to cultivate support from voting members attuned and sometimes weary of our position, to help them gravitate towards the success of the bill at voting time. We must constantly perceive our opponents as people that love to work with us but want a reason to. Our leadership and strategy of communicating the benefits of the Clean Energy and Security Act must always remain positive to help bring critics around. In all our transaction and efforts to garner support for the bill, we must remain honest, always ready to deliver real value to our constituent and the nation.
Finally, although we do not know what the future holds, we obviously understand the need to manage our environment, such that industries pollute less, the air we breathe becomes cleaner and the water we drink, remain precinct. We appreciate the fact that factories must remain profitable in the process of manufacturing items for the country and making their tax bill that supports the whole economy. Yet, the paradoxes of producing goods and services while remaining ‘green’ are what have brought us to this bill. We therefore must call for support of the bill from a more open and reflective audience, conventional and non-conventional, using modern media and technology (blackberry, iphones, podcast, blogs, emails and more) to deliver the benefits of the bill during the congressional debate period. Efforts must be geared towards achieving dominant success at the first round of voting, by constantly, in real-time, communicating the benefits of the bill to all constituencies: supporters and adversaries.
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