drill baby drill
the exxon valdez spilled 11,000 gallons of oil into prince william sound. the accidental (we assume) explosion and sinking of the deepwater horizon drilling rig 50 miles off the coast of louisiana is estimated to have the potential to let loose over 100,000 gallons of oil in the gulf of mexico before a relief well can be drilled to offset the pressure. (kinda tough to cap something that far under water). that means 9 times the oil spilled across an area uncounted-times more populated and economically vulnerable. (we don't even have to worry about the shore birds to see the potential for catastrophe with this one--lets talk about entire fishing and shellfish industries and all related livelihoods wiped out just for starters).
we require somewhere around 20M barrels of oil per day here in the US to feed our habit, and we end up importing well over half that amount because we can't possibly produce enough here to satisfy all that demand. that imbalance is the bedrock foundation of our burgeoning trade and currency imbalance, pursuant national debt crisis, and our security/terrorism nightmare in the middle east that's now coming home to roost.
so--you tell me: do we drill, baby drill, as has been suggested, to reduce our deficit consumption of crude oil from over 12M barrels a day to, say, 10M barrels a day? does that fundamentally change the math when it comes to us becoming terrorist-targeted indentured servants to oil producing nations living in a toxic wasteland of energy-related mishaps like this rig sinking?
t boone pickens has a plan. expecting immediate knee-jerk resistance from anyone and everyone who hates even the whiff of anything remotely in agreement with anything al gore has ever said, i offer to you that pickens is also a red state poster boy (e.g. he backed the swift boat veterans against john kerry right to the end), and put $250K of his own money (the federal maximum) into geo dubya bush's last candidacy, among many other right-defining good ole boy american things. (apologies to anyone who dislikes the term, but this-a here boy has earned it from where i'm standing). pickens has stated squarely that we must change our energy production and consumption infrastructure, and CAN change our energy production and consumption infrastructure fairly easily by harnessing things like the winds that regularly blow across our american plains. the best part? the stimulus effect of funding all the infrastructure work (power generation and transmission facilities, etc.) happens squarely in the economic regions of this country that need it most, while satisfying the energy needs of the areas of this country that use it best. win win. (and win because it reduces our vulnerability to terrorism, too).
so why are we ALL not talking more about this???
the pickens plan is one of the most patriotic manifestos i believe i have ever read, and i'm proud to be a supporter. read it. think about it. and put aside red and blue, because this is one of those things that is brightly red white and blue.
we require somewhere around 20M barrels of oil per day here in the US to feed our habit, and we end up importing well over half that amount because we can't possibly produce enough here to satisfy all that demand. that imbalance is the bedrock foundation of our burgeoning trade and currency imbalance, pursuant national debt crisis, and our security/terrorism nightmare in the middle east that's now coming home to roost.
so--you tell me: do we drill, baby drill, as has been suggested, to reduce our deficit consumption of crude oil from over 12M barrels a day to, say, 10M barrels a day? does that fundamentally change the math when it comes to us becoming terrorist-targeted indentured servants to oil producing nations living in a toxic wasteland of energy-related mishaps like this rig sinking?
t boone pickens has a plan. expecting immediate knee-jerk resistance from anyone and everyone who hates even the whiff of anything remotely in agreement with anything al gore has ever said, i offer to you that pickens is also a red state poster boy (e.g. he backed the swift boat veterans against john kerry right to the end), and put $250K of his own money (the federal maximum) into geo dubya bush's last candidacy, among many other right-defining good ole boy american things. (apologies to anyone who dislikes the term, but this-a here boy has earned it from where i'm standing). pickens has stated squarely that we must change our energy production and consumption infrastructure, and CAN change our energy production and consumption infrastructure fairly easily by harnessing things like the winds that regularly blow across our american plains. the best part? the stimulus effect of funding all the infrastructure work (power generation and transmission facilities, etc.) happens squarely in the economic regions of this country that need it most, while satisfying the energy needs of the areas of this country that use it best. win win. (and win because it reduces our vulnerability to terrorism, too).
so why are we ALL not talking more about this???
the pickens plan is one of the most patriotic manifestos i believe i have ever read, and i'm proud to be a supporter. read it. think about it. and put aside red and blue, because this is one of those things that is brightly red white and blue.
Labels: politics
posted by kad barma at 8:51 AM
1 Comments:
Just because Al Gore is a fore-flusher on this climate stuff, or at least WRT his first book on it, Earth in the Balance does not mean that T Boone is wrong. I fully agree with the Pickens Plan, as does at least one other red meat Republican I know here in Lowell.
And, I would be happy to see a $10 a barrel import tax on crude oil, to help pay down the debt (note pay down the debt, not spend more) and to promote conservation. As a bumper sticker on Lynne Lupian's care says (something to the effect) energy efficiency is a national security issue.
Regards — Cliff
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home