Support Balanced Energy Policy

You'd think we would have learned a big lesson from the energy policies of the 1970s and '80s, which led to higher prices and long lines at the pump. But some members of Congress are proposing that we bring those policies back! At a time when we need as many energy resources as we can get, they're actually suggesting that we do things like limit domestic production and mandate reduced consumption. It just doesn't make sense...and Congress needs to know that.

I made sure my legislators know exactly how I feel about these potentially damaging proposals. I took action here, and I urge you to do the same. It just takes a minute, but it can change the future of energy for America. Please visit and take action today.

Perspective:

Short term solutions - quick fixes - merely up the ante for implementing long term solutions. Without the intestinal fortitude to create coherent policy that responsibly grapples with the fact that we are killing our planet with rampant fossil fuel consumption, we come up with palliative quick fixes that exacerbate the problem (destruction of the ecosystem upon which humans depend for survival) and pass off to future generations (?) the burden of arriving at long-term solutions. Where has gone the discussion about investment in non-fossil fuel mass transit infrastructure? Limiting our consideration of the “issue” to pro and con positions on “responsible” off-shore drilling (now there is an oxymoron for you) is a disservice to intelligent public discourse. Of course, intelligent public discourse and a little violent rebellion from time to time were thought by at least one founding father to be essential to maintaining a healthy and vibrant republic. Old Thomas was not so dumb; methinks, at least about public discourse. (Have you noticed how warm it has been lately, in planetary terms?)

To conscientiously live energy conscious is a compelling lesson in humility, a strange posture for many Americans. We have treated energy like food and can afford to do so no longer. (Did you know that people starving in other countries cannot wrap around their brains the idea that Americans actually have surgery to prevent over consumption of food?) If higher fuel prices lead to increased fuel efficiency in motor vehicles, investment in alternative energy research and production and investment in non-fossil fuel mass transit infrastructure, this is a good thing for consumers and the environment. Now, if only those with the most to gain from the present trajectory could be convinced. See why old Thomas was so wise?

The problem we face is dependency – fixation - on fossil fuels for energy. That we are dependent on foreign oil is another problem. (Did you know that Canada imports to the USA more oil than Saudia Arabia, Kuwait and a few other Kingdoms put together? Did you know that the process of extracting Canadian “sand” crude is about as harmful to the environment as it gets? Sand crude production is to oil what strip mining is to coal. Dependency on fossil fuels is the controlling factor that drives exploration and production. Fossil fuel investment and dependency leads to a dead end (a planet inhospitable to human life). That we behave the way we do, as a species, with overwhelming indications of the inexorable consequences of our behavior, is truly astounding, perhaps a subject for study in abnormal sociology.