Vince Carroll in his most recent column writes about Bill Ritter's debate at NYU on the topic of green energy and it's ability to help get us out of this Great Recession. The proposition that Ritter was arguing on behalf of stated: "Clean energy can drive America's economic recovery."
Carroll is kind to Ritter and calls it a drubbing, whereas we see it as more Ritter getting bent over the knee of his opponents and intellectually spanked.
The intellectual thrashers were Robert Bryce and Steven Hayward of the Manhatten Institute and Pacific Research Institute, respectively.
Carroll rightly points out Ritter's stupidity for trying to argue that such a small industry could be the prime force behind the economy's recovery.
Of course, a sober advocate of clean energy would have been reluctant even to accept an assignment arguing that such a tiny sector of the economy could drive recovery because the notion is suspect on its face.
That stupidity and ego was seen throughout Ritter's four-year failed tenure in Colorado, so it's no surprise he's brought that same intellectual strategy to the national stage.
At one point Ritter's teammate, Kassia Yanosek, a renewable energy investor, complains the other side is the one "with all the numbers." Before that Ritter asks why they are just talking about clean energy, to which his opponent interjects "because it's in the title of the resolution." Just these two anecdotes give you an idea of how soundly Ritter was decimated.
The audience agreed, giving the contest clearly to Ritter's opponents.
What Carroll's column lacks is an audio and visual demonstration of this drubbing. Embedded after the jump are a few highlights we've put together for our readers. If you have the time we encourage to watch the whole debate, which can be seen here.