John McCain's Disingenuous Stance on Renewable Energy
It's been a while since I forced my political views on you, so I guess we're due, right?
Not only is John McCain falsely implying that he supports renewable energy, but what he actually is pushing for (offshore oil drilling) has proven time and time again that the juice is not worth the squeeze. (More on this in a minute…)
Even with perfect case studies like Denmark imposing high taxes on fossil fuels and driving innovation like recycling of waste heat from coal-powered energy plants for home heating and hot water, while simultaneously boosting their economy and creating new jobs in the process; it seems nothing can be defeated by the American Lowest Common Denominator. Not to mention the fact that somehow their citizens manage to work and survive with little to no gasoline usage. Gasp.
In 1973 we got 99 percent of our energy from the Middle East. Today it is zero.
And as if that wasn't enough to make me want to move to Denmark, their prime minister — Anders Fogh Rasmussen — is a friggin' genius:
I have observed that in all other countries, including in America, people are complaining about how prices of [gasoline] are going up. The cure is not to reduce the price, but, on the contrary, to raise it even higher to break our addiction to oil. We are going to introduce a new tax reform in the direction of even higher taxation on energy and the revenue generated on that will be used to cut taxes on personal income — so we will improve incentives to work and improve incentives to save energy and develop renewable energy.
Or if he's not a genius, at least he had the cohones to implement what every sane American Op-Ed writer has been harping on for years, and obviously, continues to harp on.
Republicans and other pro-drillers sing the chorus of "lower prices at the pump," totally ignoring the fact that it's been proven to harm the ecosystem. They'll ask you questions like why it's not ok to drill here, but it is ok to drill in the middle east. Answer: We can't make the middle east stop drilling, that's their responsibility. Our duty is to do what's right and to set the example.
They all brush off the fact that the few hundred thousand barrels of oil we could produce in a year (that's the max, from professional estimates) would be a drop in the bucket of our consumption: tens of millions of barrels per DAY. They say things like, "at least that's 200,000 less barrels we buy from the middle east, funding their terrorism" — and to a certain extent, that's true: We'll give them 296 billion dollars instead of 300 billion. I'm sure they really feel the loss.
And what about the end-game? I'll play devils advocate for a second: Let's assume that offshore drilling (a) wouldn't harm the environment, and (b) would produce a significant decrease in prices at the pump (let's define that as $2.50 / gallon or better). Then what? Do we just plan on drilling off of our own coastiline until the reserves dry up and deal with it then? How very short-sighted.
Obama has some of the top names in climate and renewable energy advising him. And while McCain is running around shouting "Drill Now!" Obama has a real sustainable energy policy.
So when you vote, think about which candidate is telling you what he thinks you want to hear, and which candidate is doing something to make sure we leave our children with a planet worth looking after. (Hint: Check the box not smeared over with oil.)
momT wrote on 08/25/08 11:58 AM
How did you get so smart?