OIL AND ENERGY IN AMERICA

Former Commerce Secretary Robert Reich has a short but excellent post on oil and energy in America. It's done in a Q&A format. Here's the Q&A lead ...

Question: Won't McCain's plan to increase offshore drilling lower gas prices soon?

Answer: No. The Energy Department's own Energy Information Administration admits offshore drilling will affect gas prices only many years from now, and even then would have a negligible effect on prices.

With Congressman Kevin McCarthy being applauded by Bakersfield Californian columnist Marylee Shrider for running back and forth between Bakersfield and Washington to participate in the republican's energy publicity stunt, Reich's comments make it clear that our local congressman is just wasting his time. It also tells us that Shrider doesn't understand the difference between "democracy" and publicity stunt politics.

Read Reich's post. It's the best short review of our energy situation I've read in a while.

- Mark

OBAMA: "IT'S LIKE THESE GUYS [McCAIN/GOP] TAKE PRIDE IN BEING IGNORANT ..."

I'm glad to see Obama's fighting back and calling it like it is.

By way of Dailykos, here's Obama going after McCain's campaign, and their childish attempt to discredit Obama's suggestion that ordinary Americans can check their tires to save on gas ...



I especially enjoyed the comment that McCain & the GOP "know they are lying" as they try to discredit Obama's energy policies.

And just because we want to know, how does doing a small thing like checking your tires differ from McCain's suggestion that we "turn off the lights" earlier and not "drive the extra block"?



You have to think that John McCain would know that he's made similar suggestions over the past few months ... Then again, ignorance is bliss when you need to wisecrack and score cheap points on the campaign trail.

Finally, it turns out that GOP VP candidate Mitt Romney can't seem to recall a single legislative accomplishment by John McCain that might help bring energy independence to America in in his 20+ years in Washington ...



Didn't Mitt just finish campaigning against McCain? You would figure that he might be able to dress up some small accomplishment - especially since he wants to be McCain's VP candidate.

Like Obama said, it's like they take pride in being ignorant ...

- Mark

BUSH & CLIMATE CHANGE ... YET ANOTHER PROFILE IN FAILURE

Remember when the Bush administration tried to alter, then stalled, and finally released (under court order) it's climate report four years late? The report concluded - to absolutely no one's surprise - that climate change (a.k.a. "global warming") is occurring.

Today, after the Bush administration pushed the richest nations to ignore the poor and developing nations of the world, the LA Times is reporting that the most advanced nations called on the rapidly developing nations to ... drum roll please ... cut their emissions output because of "climate change" that is occurring.

For their part the richest nations acknowledged that they also had to pursue "a long-term target for emissions reductions" ... and promised to think about cutting their emission levels in half, some time in the future ... if the poorer nations did so first.

In effect, with the Bush administration leading the way, the G-8 nations have simply agreed to kick the can down the road to the next generation.

President Bush called the G-8 summit "a success." Those in the reality based world called it what it really was: Yet another example of failed leadership on the part of the United States under President Bush.

- Mark

SOLVING THE ENERGY/OIL PROBLEM

Here's Robert Reich on President Bush's weak (and pretty lame) comments regarding the price of gas during yesterday morning's press conference.

The President criticized Democrats in Congress today for barring oil drilling on the Alaskan tundra. If he thinks that will bring down oil prices, he's even farther out of his mind than I feared. Even if such drilling were environmentally safe (and it's not -- remember BP?) it would amount to a miniscule addition to global oil supples.

Reich's also on to the Snake Oil that Hilary and the increasingly out of touch McCain are pitching.

So what else can we do? McCain and HRC are proposing a tax holiday on gas - so this summer you wouldn't pay the 18 cents a gallon that would otherwise go to Uncle Sam. Talk about dumb ideas. This will only encourage Americans to drive more, thereby increasing demand and causing gas prices to rise even higher ... It's a cheap political gimmick that does nothing to stem the rising price of oil.

Reich's solution? It's pretty simple, and very doable.

You want to hold oil prices down? In the short term, strengthen the dollar. Part of the reason oil prices are soaring is because the dollar is tanking [which we discussed on Saturday]. The Treasury and financial ministries of other rich countries should buy back dollars to stop speculators who are bidding the greenback down.

Over the longer term, though, China and India's insatiable demand for oil will continue to drive oil prices up, and turmoil in the Middle East will keep them up. So there's really only one way for us to go: Alternative sources of energy - wind, solar, biomass, water, and if we can make it safe enough, nuclear.

The only drawback is that there's too much commons sense involved. It might even force the Bush administration to answer for its history of saying one thing on alternative energy while doing another - like gutting renewable energy programs.

But that's alright. I'm sure OPEC and/or these two guys will figure it out for us, right? (and, yes, that's Venezuela's Hugo Chavez).



- Mark