THE WIND THE SUN AND CONGRESSIONAL COMPROMISE

Our Drop, Their Bucket [1]
McCain is confused again...

*****GOOD MORNING FLINT ,
by Terry Bankert 08/14/2008 ,
http://attorneybankert.com/ ,
full article with citations posted,http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/ ,
Summary,REFLECTIONS for discussion at Flint Talk thread Good Morning Flint: http://www.flinttalk.com/viewforum.php?f=2
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REFLECTIONS:Your elected will not make alternative fuel a priority unless you force them through political pressure. Democrats in Congress are offering a compromise to break the congressional grid lock and cause some positive action. You need to keep your eyes on them. Scream at your congressman or woman when you see them, anywhere any time any place until they make alternative energy a priority. Most in Congress do not know or cannot act on the fact that this country needs alternative fuel as a policy priority.For congress to act compromise is necessary, it’s a fact of life. Watch closely to see what is traded off. We must force a shift to alternative fuel. The price of gas must go higher to cause an energy supply shift. Off shore drilling is insignificant unless its in your back yard. The wind, sun and nukes belong to us, why not use them.Denmark gets 20% of its energy from the wind. I would not have expected that from a bunch of dumb blondes. I am starting to think Pickens is on to something.All our country needs....is the political will.....[Terry Bankert 8/14/08]
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All of us have felt the sting of high fuel costs over the last year. But what are our politicians doing to fix the problem ...?[3]Your elected will not make alternative fuel a priority unless you force them through political pressure. Call me I will tell you how.[trb]Ever since McCain switched—dare I say flip-flopped?—from being one of the loudest opponents of Bush’s demand for more oil platforms off America’s most beautiful coastlines to being its loudest advocate, Democrats have been slamming him for it. That’s good.[1]Democrats are offering a compromise to break the congressional grid lock and cause some positive action.Keep your eyes on them also.[trb]Democratic leaders in the House discussed the possibility on Wednesday of offering a comprehensive energy package when Congress returns in the fall, according to leadership aides.[2] Scream at your congressman or woman when you see them, anywhere any time any place until they make alternative energy a priority.[trb]

SOME DEMOCRATS JUST DO NOT GET IT AND ARE USING THE WRONG ARGUMENTSWhat’s not so good is some of the arguments they’re...Democrats are .... using.[1]It’s a gimmick, the Dems keep saying. But who cares if it’s a gimmick if it brings down energy prices? [1]It won’t produce results for twenty years, they keep saying. But since when are Democrats opposed to long-term solutions?[1]It’s a hoax, because we can’t drill our way out of our energy problems, they say.But why shouldn’t we drill part of our way out?[1]

MCCAIN HAS NO VISION AND NO PLAN HE IS JUST BEING "POLITICAL".Politicians such as Sen. John McCain have promoted lifting the prohibition on offshore drilling in some areas as a way to alleviate our energy crisis. Mr. McCain has even linked Se. Barack Obamac's earlier opposition to expanding offshore drilling to our high oil prices. [3]

AMERICANS WANT ACTION ANY ACTION, LEADERS GIVE ACTION THAT’S MEANINGFUL NOT JUST EXPEDIENT.Distressingly, such ideas have gained traction. According a recent poll, 69 percent of Americans now support increased offshore drilling and 51 percent believe doing so will reduce the cost of gasoline within a year.[3]

TO GET CONGRESS ACTING WE MUST COMPROMISEBut it seems clear party leaders are crafting a comprehensive energy package that would combine a Republican priority to open new offshore sites for oil and gas exploration with Democratic priorities, like tax subsidies for renewable sources of energy or new requirements for energy producers to generate more power from renewables, like wind and solar power.[2]

WITH POPULATIONS EXPLODING INTO THE MIDDLE CLASS OUR GOVERNMENT MUST FORCE A CONSUMER SHIFT TO ALTERNATIVE FUELS TO PROTECT AMERICAWhile world oil production has never been higher, vastly increased demand for oil from nations such as China has driven up prices. Unless this demand slows (which is unlikely), we won't see major adjustments in oil costs.[3]

THERE ARE COUNTRIES WITH BETTER ARGUMENTS AND SOLUTIONSA better argument may be found in the same issue of the New York Times Magazine that I rushed to harsh on a few weeks ago. It’s from Deborah Solomon’s crisp mini-interview with Robert Reich. The relevant Q.’s and A.’s:[1]What do you make of the argument that the only way to lessen our dependence on foreign oil is to tap more oil wells here—in Alaska and off the coasts of Florida and California? When you consider that the oil we pump goes into a global oil market, offshore drilling makes no sense. We take the environmental risk, but we’d have to share the negligible price gains with Chinese consumers and every other user around the world.[1]Then why do you think President Bush asked Congress last month to lift the longtime ban on offshore oil drilling? If I had to guess, I would say that President Bush is very close to the oil companies and wants whatever they want.[1]

OFF SHORE DRILLING ....INSIGNIFICANTThe point is easy to understand. We take all the risks. We pay all the costs. But we don’t get all the benefits, such as they are. Once the oil comes out, some time in the far future, it gets sold to whoever’s buying at that day’s price. The impact on price will be spread across the globe—which is why, as even the Bush Administration’s Department of Energy admits, that impact will be "insignificant."[1]

PELOSI WILL BACK THE NONSENSE OF OFF SHORE DRILLING JUST TO NOT LET THE REPUBLICAN TAKE CREDITDemocratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering legislation that would permit new offshore drilling as part of a broad energy bill, a response to growing anxiety within her party that Republicans are gaining traction with election-year attacks that Democrats aren't doing enough to address high gasoline prices.[4]

THERE ARE MANY VIABLE OPTIONS, INCREMENTS OF POLICY BEING DEBATED, WHAT WE NEED IS A COMPREHENSIVE PACKAGE. WHERE IS AL GORE WHEN YOU NEED HIMThere was also some discussion on the call about including a repeal of tax subsidies for some of the biggest oil companies, one aide said. Democrats kicked off 2007 by passing a measure that would rescind nearly $14 billion in tax subsidies from the biggest oil companies in order to pay for alternative energy projects. Thirty-six Republicans backed that measure, despite strong opposition from the White House and members of the oil industry. It remains stuck in the Senate.[2]

IT IS NOT OUR BUCKET TO DROP INTOIt’s a drop in the bucket, and it’s not even our bucket. It’s China’s, India’s, Europe’s—everybody’s. We get a thimbleful.[1]

OFF SHORE GIVES NO IMPACT FOR 9 YEARSHowever, experts at the Department of Energy have found that it would take about nine years for offshore drilling to increase our oil supply at all and that even then the price cut would be "insignificant."[3]

DRILL IN YOUR BACK YARD NOT MINE. HOW DOES GREAT LAKE OFF SHORE DRILLING SOUND ?Pelosi has long opposed lifting the drilling ban but has come under pressure from members of her own party -- including freshmen in tough reelection campaigns -- to allow a vote on offshore drilling. Adding to that, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama recently said that he would be open to limited offshore drilling if it was part of a broader energy compromise.[4]We need to realize that oil will never be cheap again and other solutions are needed[3]

THE WIND THE SUN THE NUKES ARE OURSBut our wind and our sunlight aren’t going anywhere. Aren’t we better off putting our efforts into encouraging and harnessing them? When we’re thinking long term, when we’re planning for twenty years from now, shouldn’t we be looking to get away from carbon-belching, icecap-melting, coast-destroying oil?[1]The idea of letting states decide whether to permit drilling has gained support in the Senate too. A bipartisan group of senators recently unveiled a compromise that would let Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia decide whether to allow drilling 50 miles off their shorelines.[4]Drilling opponents are stepping up their efforts to preserve the ban.[4]MoveOn.org Political Action, which supports the election of candidates favoring the MoveOn.org agenda, has run radio ads in some GOP-held districts attacking the incumbents for accepting oil industry campaign contributions and calling new offshore drilling a gimmick that wouldn't produce oil for years.[4]

HEY...YOU SUPPLY AND DEMAND NUTS ...INCREASE THE COST OF THE SUPPLY EVEN MORE AND SHIFT THE DEMAND TO ALTERNATIVE ENERGY...WHY NOTThe underlying truth, though it may be a little too raw for campaign purposes, is that the price at the pump should be higher, not lower. As Elizabeth Kolbert notes in our current issue, a few months of sharply rising fuel costs have done more to cut our oil profligacy than all the preceding years of high-minded exhortations.[1]

WE SHOULD NATIONALIZE THE OIL PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION ARREST THE OIL EXECUTIVES AND HAVE A YEAR OF SHOW TRIALS..IT’S A THOUGHT...A BAD ONE BUT A THOUGHTUnfortunately, all that extra cost is simply a transfer of wealth to the coffers of oil "producers" like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela, with a few tens of billions skimmed off the top by ExxonMobil and the like.[1]

DENMARK GETS 20 % OF ITS ENERGY FROM THE WINDTom Friedman pointed out the other day that the Danes are paying ten dollars a gallon for gasoline. It’s not a problem for them. That’s because most of what they pay goes for taxes that have financed an energy policy so effective that Denmark now gets 20 per cent of its electricity from wind (we get one per cent) and zero per cent of its fuel from the Middle East (down from 99 per cent twenty-five years ago). Now the Danes are getting ready to jack up gasoline taxes even more and use the proceeds to cut personal income taxes. They have this crazy idea that they should tax things they want to discourage, like gas guzzling, and ease up on taxing things they want to encourage, like people working. [1]

I WOULD NEVER EXPECT THAT FROM A BUNCH OF BLONDSBut what do they know. They’re just a bunch of foreigners. European socialists, too, probably.[1]Last month, former Vice President Al Gore called for 100 percent of our energy to be generated by clean, renewable sources within 10 years. A witness before Congress recently testified that there are no significant technological or engineering hurdles to making this happen.[3]All our country needs to do so is GET the political will.[3]
—ENDPosted here by Terry Bankert 8/14/08
* * * * * For more on alternative Energy:
http://energyalternativesadvisor.blogspot.com/
Also see Blogging for Michigan: http://bloggingformichigan.com/ *****
—SOURCES
[1]The New Yorkerhttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/hendrikhertzberg/2008/08/our-drop-their.html

[2]CBS Newshttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/13/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4349413.shtml
[3]Baltimore Sunhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/letters/bal-ed.le.letters140aug14,0,4517662.story

[4]The Los Angeles Timeshttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drilling14-2008aug14,0,4495703.story

[trb]Comments of Terry Bankert to include unattributed CAP headlineshttp://attorneybankert.com/
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