OIL! Oil oil oil

Oil is once again dominating our thoughts. John Boner...ooops, sorry, BAYner (but it's spelled Boehner) is grinning all over the news saying that if Oil prices don't go down, Barack Obama won't win reelection.

I got an email from the local tea party, it reads:

$6.00 Gas Coming?

Gas has already hit $5.00 in a few places in the US. A year ago, it was $2.87. Obama says the increase is caused by "mideast instability" and speculators. We think it's inflation & inadequate US domestic production.

The government takes every opportunity to choke off our domestic oil supply.

And you thought it was supposed to be government for the people.

Wow! The Government is CHOKING off our oil supply... they must REALLY hate us.

If only we could let those POOR OIL COMPANIES free... they would help us.

But wait...last year, EXXON MOBILE MADE $30 BILLION DOLLARS...PROFIT. PROFIT! That's what they made AFTER they paid their operating expenses. That's money they KEEP. Oh, and the government, that bad old Government that is Choking off our oil, actually handed out 4 BILLION DOLLARS in Federal TAX BREAKS!

And get this, according to CNN...Exxon's profits for THIS year are expected to DOUBLE...to $60 Billion.

Now, presumably, the only reason the Tea Party is willing to put the livelihood of it's fellow Americans at risk by drilling off their beaches (and spills affect tourism, fishing, real estate, you name it.)or mortgage our children's environmental heritage (imagine: in place of the Alaska wilderness, we get an oil soaked wasteland)...is because they are betting that, if we found more oil, the natural economic laws of supply and demand would kick in and lower the prices....

But wake up people...the normal laws of supply and demand are NOT operating here. A fair profit is one thing, but THESE profits are obscene. The game is rigged. There is no reason to risk environmental devastation to further subsidize a rigged game.

Tea Party Types are fighting mad, but as usual, they are not looking in the right places.

Silly Facebook Arguments: The Oil Spill....

Yesterday, I saw a great idea on Facebook, and posted it as my status.

Alex: just joined the "Stop the Spill by Using Sarah Palin to plug the pipe"....awesome idea!

I got a fair number of positive responses, but a good friend of mine, who also happens to be a die hard Republican wrote back:

GOPFriend: Oh sure... Your boy has sat back with his arms crossed for a month and yet you feel the need to throw Palin in the drink? Hmmm....

Here's my answer to my friend. I don't make any claims for scholarship or style...but in substance, it seems about right on the nose:

Alex: Sorry, buddy, I know you GOP types want your Katrina moment...and I'll even admit that I give Obama a pretty low grade on his response to this. But that does NOT change the fact that BP was allowed to put a dangerous rig in place with out adequate safety plans, etc.
On who's watch did THAT happen?
Why George W. Bush...of course.
Now, who campaigned on DRILL Baby DRILL?
Why...Sarah Palin, of course.

To be completely fair, Obama said he would allow more off-shore drilling about a month before this happened...if you saw my FB posts at the time, you'll remember that I expressed displeasure with "my boy" and urged other Democrats to write to the White House.

(This by the way was on March 31- by early May, the BP created disaster had struck. It was only a matter of time...it's ironic that it came so quickly.)

But, while Mr. Obama's reversal was disappointing, when it comes to comparisons between the two parties...there isn't one.

Between the failed banking system and Republican inspired lack of regulations....the irresponsible tax cuts which have helped plunge this country further into debt (Bill Clinton had the deficit headed in the RIGHT direction...and that's not politics, that's HISTORY- you can look it up.)...and now, with what we see was an 8 year free ride for the Oil Industry to do any damn thing it wanted and take any stupid risk it cared to...

...your "boys and girls" have proven that they can't even be trusted to go to the corner store to pick up a loaf of bread...let alone run the country.

So, there is blame enough for all...the American People (and I'm included) for using a car when feet or a bike will do and the Democrats (including President Obama) who play it politically safe and give into the calls of the addicts when they cry "Drill Baby Drill"...

...but I still think we may be allowed to reserve a special circle of blame for those members of the Republican party who cheerfully, actively lead us into the mess. Don't forget, and don't let anyone else forget, that from 1994 to 2008 the GOP controlled at least TWO of the THREE branches of Government- and from 2004 to 2006 they controlled all three branches. The patterns of today were set in those years.

To be honest, I thought my friend Jennifer had the best plan...postulating that ex-Governor Palin was too skinny stop up the pipe, Jennifer suggested that we add Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and Sean Hannity...sounds like a plan to me.

Time to Change the Rules America Must End Depedance on Oil

Just read a interesting opinion piece in the The New Republic. Written by Paul Berman, The Death of 1989 postulates the consequences of a Russia acting out of paranoia and makes a convincing case that the world has become a more uncertain place following the Kremlin's push against Georgia.

The entire piece is well worth reading, but, in the end the issue comes down to Oil plain and simple. Oil is the lifeblood on which almost all persons in the world subsist. It brings us our food, it heats our homes, earns us our living, it is as important to modern life as water in a desert, or food in a famine. It is something that people will kill for.

And yet, of course, unlike food and water, Oil is an artificial staple. Our dependence on it is real, the economic laws and realities of the world revolve around it. But this need not be so.

Berman writes in his piece:
We will have to recognize that, for the moment, questions of democratic principle, national security, and the energy crisis have decisively merged. We will need a newly combined policy, then--a reaffirmation of the principles of democratic solidarity, together with an urgent, national-priority effort to develop alternative-energy industries in order to weaken the Putin dictatorship and a series of other petro-enemies of democracy. Now, yes, after the invasion of Georgia, we will end up confirming one aspect of the Russian paranoia. Our goal should be to undo, on environmentalist grounds, the central element of Russia's rather primitive prosperity. An alternative energy program will require a turning away from free-market dogma--one more way in which a new policy cannot be traditionally conservative. The lurch will have to be leftward.

Under normal marketplace conditions, the advantages of Oil now accrue to Russia, and the Middle East. Following its present course, the United States will continue to fight wars to secure Oil, even as the sources of Oil move further from our reach...inside Russia's boarders, or under an Iranian Nuclear Umbrella.

It is as if the whole business were a giant ball game. As Americans, we are good at the game, but at the moment, the field we play on is not favorable to us.


Through a concerted effort, the United States could engage the massive economic engine of its government to change our society's relationship with the natural laws of the market place (just as an airplane engines changes our traditional relationship to the laws of gravity).

By providing artificial stimulus to the "Anti-Oil" energy business- the Government could literally "move the playing field"- the laws of the marketplace, or the rules of the game, would be the same...but the field on which we were playing would be OURS and not theirs.

An entire new industry would be born, one in which we, as a nation, took the lead. Our people would work, our coffers would be full, and, as an added bonus, the world would be cleaner.

I do not agree with Berman that this is a "leftward" idea at all. A true leftest would instead plead that we search for ways to abandon the "Zero-Sum game" of capitalism, and seek instead a cooperative, inclusive approach. While I applaud the sentiment, I can not agree that the human spirit has reached a plateau of maturity that would allow us to take the high road.

It has, after all, worked for us before. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal began it, but the full mobilization of our Government in the cause of World War Two lead our nation back to near full employment, a leading position in manufacturing, science and technology, and the living standards that went with it.

As we look at the present world situation, which shows us ever loosing to those who have the Oil, it's time to hearken back to Roosevelt's words: "For us, this is an emergency, as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, with the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war."

Climate Change and National Security

The debate about Global Warming has often been presented as a fight between hard-headed, profit seeking business types and fuzzy minded bunny hugging hippies.

It is time however, that America woke up and started confronting some of the REAL issues which may arise from a massive change in our climate. These go far beyond the loss of habit for small furry creatures...and may include famine, flooding, terrorism and war.

The US intelligence community has released a secret report to Congress, The National Security Implications of Global Climate Changes to 2030, which outlines to the nation's law makers the potential for global instability arising from massive migrations, failure in food supply, and opportunities for extremists to exploit political failures and up the tension levels.

As NPR's Tom Gelton puts the case: "With this report, the National Intelligence Council, coordinating the analysis of all US intelligence agencies, puts climate change in the same category as nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and radical Islam: it's officially a security threat."

Listen to the story at National Public Radio. (Where you are there, check out their story about off-shore drilling as well, another story Rip and Read has been squawking about.)

John McCain: Oil in his Eyes

McCain Supports Bush Call for More Off Shore Drilling

According the AP, John McCain has joined George W. Bush in a call for offshore Drilling in American coastal waters.

The American working class needs relief from high gas prices that eat into weekly pay checks, but common sense says that offshore drilling is not the way to go about providing that relief.

As Barack Obama said in his speech on the subject: "The politics may have changed but the facts haven't."

Only One Winner

There is only one group of people who would win from a change in the off shore oil drilling rules: BIG OIL.

American Drivers wouldn't even SEE this oil for years...so there are much better ways to help working Americans make ends meet.

And, when the oil finally DOES arrive, there is no guarantee that prices will go down. In fact, Americans watched for years as OPEC worked very well to keep Oil Prices UP by intentionally limiting the amount of oil they took out of the ground...if supply goes up, prices come down- if you want to keep prices up, you limit the amount of supply. After these boom times, anyone who thinks that the Oil Business is looking for ways to lower prices and profits is a complete sucker.

The Rest of us Lose

Who looses?
Most of Us.

None of us see lower Gas prices anytime soon...if ever.

Fisherman, already waiting on empty boats for fish populations to bounce back, loose most hopes of returning to their jobs.

Working People in Coastal States who rely on Tourism loose when their beaches become blotted with oil bubbles, slicks and spills.

The alternative energy industry, which could help keep this country strong, is forced to wait again while people put off breaking their oil addiction.

We all loose as we continue to damage the planet's atmosphere through fossil fuel consumption.

Americans must resist economic panic. We need to look deeply at this issue and reject the short-sighted, crony capitalism as offered by Oil Man Bush and his would-be successor, John McCain.

When it comes to Oil...just say NO!

Junkies Need another Hit -Drilling Off Shore

Bush Renews Calls for Offshore Drilling

See: AP "Bush Looks Offshore for remedy to high oil prices"
As America's drivers scream in economic pain due to high oil prices, our President proposes to ride to the rescue. How? By lifting the ban on drilling in US Coastal Waters.

That, says Bush, will fix everything.

Bushshit.

According to the same AP article, Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama points out that even if we started drilling TOMORROW we wouldn't see the oil for another 5 years.

Meanwhile, over at the Wall Street Journal, they are not panicking, no sir, they are giving out advice: GET IN ON THE OIL BOOM WHILE YOU CAN!

It is time that Americans learn that the age of cheap oil is over. It will NEVER go back down to affordable prices unless something of epic proportions happens...

Adding a temporary increase in supply won't do it...Oil companies will simply drill more slowly and keep the price up...OPEC has done this for years already.

Place this almost non-existent drop in oil prices, that we won't see in 5 years, against what we might loose by drilling off our coasts. It's a bad deal

I'm not just talking about clean beaches for swimming, but about real money...the US offshore fishing market is in real trouble, and yet, in a world which is clamoring for FOOD as much as for oil, this is another potential gold mine for this nation- one even more important that oil (people CAN learn to drive, but they'll never figure out how to stop eating). American fisherman have been struggling on the margins, waiting for the our fish population to bounce back (read Mark Kurlansky's "COD" for a fascinating discussion of this overlooked but vital chapter in American and World History).

An invasion by Oil companies could put the final nail into that coffin. Far to high a price to pay.

Instead, let's use the next five years, not to wait for a temporary supply of cheap oil to come bubbling dangerously from the deep, but instead to break our addiction to this substance once and for all.

Trucks, Trains, and Tractors: The Rising Cost of Deisel

All I can say is that the next President really better know what he, or she, is doing.

In a country which has inflicted upon itself a long war in the Middle East with no certain end date or plan of victory, in a country where the credit crunch has helped to gobble up the equity of homeowners, comes a new report of trouble on the horizon: our commercial transportation infrastructure is being hit hard by the rising cost of diesel.

There is an article in today's New York Times, "Paying at the Pump", by Christopher Maag.

At first glance, it may be hard for those in the environmental left to feel sympathy for people paying higher fuel prices, but it should be kept in mind that we are not just talking about giants like Walmart- but about small Mom and Pop trucking companies, tug boat captains, the railroads, and of course farmers.

Not only are the high fuel costs likely exact high personal costs by those employed by these fuel dependent industries- driver layoffs, foreclosed property, lost farms, but the rest of us will begin to feel the pain as well, as we begin paying higher prices for needed commodities.

From the Times:

Rising fuel costs come at a difficult time for America’s transport companies, already hit by slumps in new home construction and consumer spending. Truck tonnage fell 1.5 percent in 2007, to just under 11 billion tons, said Bob Costello, chief economist of the American Trucking Association. Rising diesel costs will almost certainly lead to higher consumer prices and more bankruptcies, he said.

In the long, the very long run, it might be good that this is happening now. Such stories bring home to the American people that "The End Of Oil" does not lie in some far off future, but is a looming date which has a very real impact on our lives today.

We will need leaders who will begin the painful chore of laying the groundwork for this new world. AND we need a public who will engage, and hold their leaders accountable for the work being done.

But in the short run, we are going to need a President capable of some fancy footwork, who can help spare the American people the worst of what is probably coming and who can help put the pieces back together as quickly as possible.

Global Warming? The End of Oil? Who can Argue with God?

Terrific op-ed piece in the NYT this week by Timothy Egan: Oil's End.

The Age of Oil is at an end. Maybe not this year. Maybe not for five years. But signs of the coming collapse are evident.

Start at the White House. There, a week ago, President Bush touted tax breaks for oil companies that have just posted the largest profits in the history of American business. Yet he was dumbstruck when asked about the prospect of $4-a-gallon gasoline, a price that will force many families to choose between food and basic travel.

“Wait — what did you just say?”, the president asked after a reporter solicited his advice for Americans facing that price, which was predicted by many analysts.

“Oh, yeah?” Bush said. “That’s interesting. I hadn’t heard that.”

It's definitely worth reading, and I hope you will check it out.

HOWEVER-

That is not what prompted ME to start typing today. What inspired me to the keyboard was not the piece (good as it was), but one of the responses.

What got me was reader comment number 12:

I personally feel that ecollogy minded people are sacrificeing the living conditions of people today for the conditions of the future, which may never happen. We need to back off the csare tactics of global warming and start useing some of the energy resources that are available to us in abundance.
Even if we tried to destroy this earth we couldn’t if God is not ready for it to happen[emphasis added]

As John Stewart might say--- wait, wait a minute, can we hear that again?

Even if we tried to destroy this earth we couldn’t if God is not ready for it to happen

Uhm...wow. I mean...wow.



I'm tempted (and obviously, I'm giving in, even though I'm covering myself with a bit of deniability by pretending that what I'm about to write is hypothetical...what I MIGHT say IF I gave in to temptation...kind of like Huckabee telling us which spot he MIGHT have run if he'd wanted to, by getting that spot front and center on the evening news.)

As I say, I'm tempted to ask this commenter:

If God is not letting anything happen against HIS will, why then won't he save your quality of life for you whether or not the bad ole greenies are lookin' over your shoulder?

I'm tempted to ask:

So, what? It's okay to jump up and down on a box of dynamite because you'll only blow up if God WANTS you to?

I'm REALLY TEMPTED to ask:

What kind of freakin' MORON are you, anyway?

But instead, I wonder if it's not more apt to dwell on a few verses from the Bible.

There is 1 Corinthians 15:32-34 for example.

Paul makes the point that there are some who might argue that there will be no resurection, it would make sense to say:

If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.

33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."

34 Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning

And then, there is the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25

14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

19"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

21"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

22"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

23"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

26"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Surely, this little lesson from Jesus reminds us that we must be both CAREFUL and WISE with what He places in our trust.

It can be said that the devil can quote scripture for his own purposes, and I'm sure that is true...but many times, the devil can do everything he wants through shear ignorance and shortsightedness.