... and the sycophantic leftists who myopically buy into the lies being offered:
I'm sitting here comparing the insanity that passes for energy policy in the United States (well itemized in this morning's column from Tom Friedman) with a town in Germany that is considering requiring solar collectors on the rooftops of private and commercial buildings. We are living in strange times indeed.
What is it that Friedman has articulated that a Religious Leftist would see to be so sane? Allow me:
Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was “addicted to oil,” and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: “Get more addicted to oil.”
Actually, it’s more sophisticated than that: Get Saudi Arabia, our chief oil pusher, to up our dosage for a little while and bring down the oil price just enough so the renewable energy alternatives can’t totally take off. Then try to strong arm Congress into lifting the ban on drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
It’s as if our addict-in-chief is saying to us: “C’mon guys, you know you want a little more of the good stuff. One more hit, baby. Just one more toke on the ole oil pipe. I promise, next year, we’ll all go straight. I’ll even put a wind turbine on my presidential library. But for now, give me one more pop from that drill, please, baby. Just one more transfusion of that sweet offshore crude.”
It is hard for me to find the words to express what a massive, fraudulent, pathetic excuse for an energy policy this is. But it gets better. The president actually had the gall to set a deadline for this drug deal:
“I know the Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in the past,” Mr. Bush said. “Now that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions. If Congressional leaders leave for the Fourth of July recess without taking action, they will need to explain why $4-a-gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act.”
This from a president who for six years resisted any pressure on Detroit to seriously improve mileage standards on its gas guzzlers; this from a president who’s done nothing to encourage conservation; this from a president who has so neutered the Environmental Protection Agency that the head of the E.P.A. today seems to be in a witness-protection program. I bet there aren’t 12 readers of this newspaper who could tell you his name or identify him in a police lineup.
But, most of all, this deadline is from a president who hasn’t lifted a finger to broker passage of legislation that has been stuck in Congress for a year, which could actually impact America’s energy profile right now — unlike offshore oil that would take years to flow — and create good tech jobs to boot.
What the President actually said and what Friedman is saying he said don't exactly line up:
In the long run, the solution is to reduce demand for oil by promoting alternative energy technologies. My administration has worked with Congress to invest in gas-saving technologies like advanced batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. We've mandated a large expansion in the use of alternative fuels. We've raised fuel efficiency standards to ambitious new levels. With all these steps, we are bringing America closer to the day when we can end our addiction to oil, which will allow us to become better stewards of the environment. In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil. And that means we need to increase supply, especially here at home. So my administration has repeatedly called on Congress to expand domestic oil production. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal -- and now Americans are paying the price at the pump for this obstruction. Congress must face a hard reality: Unless Members are willing to accept gas prices at today's painful levels -- or even higher -- our nation must produce more oil. And we must start now.
The whole thing should be read alongside Friedman's missives. When done, a thinking person (and not one who merely emotes) would find that Friedman's verbiage is correct only in bringing up addiction and it's consequences. It's an addiction more commonly called Bush Derangement Syndrome that is at the crux of our national problem.
Bush is seen to be the great Satan (interestingly enough, so do America's enemies) and this while ignoring the energy policies (or the lack thereof) of the leftists in Congress who I assume Friedman and his boot-lickers embrace whole-heartedly.
Drilling now in places where we've been told we can't by environmentalists and their co-horts will do lots to ease pressures at the pump in due time. It also buys us that due time which coupled with national policies to encourage rather than discourage, allows the American entrepreneur to do what he or she has always done. Find solutions to problems, not by some nationalized or government demand but by individual pride, intellect and good will.
That's sanity.
Friedman and his shallow-minded followers be damned.
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