Is it the dusk or the dawn of a new day in America?
Rich Lowry over at National Review has a great article on the desire of the democrats to deflect the flames emanating their way from their constituents to oil speculators instead. As always in congress the fault lies anywhere else but there.
While Waxman was producing his steroid spectacle he could have instead been putting forth new energy initiatives to fuel America. While the impeachment posse in congress was looking for scalps and who outted Valerie Plame they could have opened offshore drilling. While blockading judiciary nominees they could have taken some of the prohibitive regulation off of nuclear energy. While they were debating how to lose the war we’ve now won, they could have enabled a right of way for a coast-to-coast energy intertie and high speed rail line. While they create their witch-hunt theater now to blame someone else for the world energy shortage, they could instead look into any mirror.
These are exciting times we live in – the dawning hours of a bold and bright new century. In other places like Brazil, you see burgeoning economies and people creating and building. Here you see stasis and nihilistic ennui. We are destroying our ability to create energy in the nuclear and oil sectors, does anyone in America know how to build anymore?
Rich ends by suggesting they send a goat out. Instead of that the whiny infants in congress need to be put out on the street where we can ignore their cries as we move forward into the future; hope and change might be their ironic trope but stasis is their game and it’s action, not hysteria that accomplishes things.
Update: It’s not just the Democrats either. I’ve been corresponding with Senator Pat Roberts from Kansas regarding the energy demand problem, and why we need to get moving now on it. It’s not just about us, it’s about total world energy demand, and I linked a series of posts to demonstrate (these) In reply I received the following email, the emphasis is mine, not Senator Pat Roberts:
July 21, 2008
Mr. (real name redacted)
(real address redacted)Dear Mr. (name redacted):
Thank you for contacting me regarding energy. I appreciate your comments on this topic.
I agree. High energy prices are putting financial pressure on many families, businesses, and farmers. We need to be assured that outside factors are not influencing or manipulating the energy markets. With my support, Congress recently passed the Farm Bill (P.L.110-234), which expands the authority of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to monitor futures markets and energy transactions. The CFTC is our lead watchdog to root out manipulation in the marketplace and the Farm Bill provides them with additional tools to better accomplish their mission.We must stabilize energy prices. That means increasing our domestic energy supply, decreasing our energy demand, and continuing to properly monitor and enforce market regulations.
On the supply side, the government can help by supporting domestic oil and gas exploration and promoting the development of alternative, renewable energy resources. With my support, in 2005 and 2007, two energy bills became law that increase our domestic production of renewable fuels. To complement this legislation, I am a cosponsor of the Gas Price Reduction Act, which would increase traditional and alternative fuels production in the United States to help ease the pressure of rising fuel costs. This bill unlocks more than 14 billion barrels of oil from the Outer Continental Shelf, as well as potentially 2 trillion barrels of oil shale in the Rocky Mountain region. The bill also increases support for research and development of advanced battery technology to reduce our energy consumption. Also, I am a cosponsor of the American Energy Production Act. This bill unlocks more than 24 billion barrels of oil from the Outer Continental Shelf and a small portion of the Artic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Likewise, the Energy Independence and Security Act (P.L.110-140), which I supported, helps address the demand side of our energy equation. For the first time in two decades, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for vehicles increased to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. This mileage increase will help to reduce fuel consumption in the United States.
Again thank you for taking the time to contact me. If you would like more information on issues before the Senate, please visit my website at http://roberts.senate.gov
You may also sign up on my home page for a monthly electronic newsletter that will provide additional updates on my work for Kansas.
With every best wish,
Sincerely, Pat Roberts
Pat’s behind some great initiatives on drilling and energy production, some questionable ones on ethanol, and some “let’s solve the problem by coercing the public” regulation to conserve and regulate prices. The real answer is not to force behaviour on US Citizens or US industry, but rather to remove prohibitive regulation on ALL types of energy production. If we didn’t learn about price caps and how to create energy and economic stagflation from Nixon’s and Carter’s blunders, I guess we never will. Congress needs to cry havoc and let slip the hogs of Capitalism, that’s the only thing that will get us out of this ditch fast.
Note that I think Pat Roberts is a fine senator, & I will likely vote for him when he runs again, but we can’t conserve or regulate our way out of this problem. We can however deregulate our way out of it.