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Wake up America!

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"Here's the centerpiece of McCain's economic plan: drill for oil, then pretend like it will help at the pump:"




http://economistsview.typepad.com/economis...mccains-bi.html


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Energy continues to be a very troubling topic for both candidates. We are essentially stuck for the next ten years until better energy options can even be considered. Wind and solar are great technologies, but eventually the law of diminishing returns will begin to kick in as windmills and panels are placed in less ideal conditions. Constructing a nuclear plant will likely take upwards of 5 years, and who knows how long it will be to gather all the permits necessary to even build one. Clean coal is expensive and is limited to very specific areas of the country.

The best current option to ween ourselves from oil is natural gas, but I just do not see the needed transformation in our society to make it a viable option to fuel our cars. Meanwhile we continue to subsidize the Big three for making vehicles based on technology created in the early 1900's. The past two decades have really tied our hands. I hope an Obama administration can begin working on energy as soon as he sets up shop, otherwise our dependence on oil will only lengthen.

In the first presidential debate, this little nugget by John McCain caught my attention:

That wasn't just about a problem between Georgia and Russia. It had everything to do with energy.

There's a pipeline that runs from the Caspian through Georgia through Turkey. And, of course, we know that the Russians control other sources of energy into Europe, which they have used from time to time.

John McCain in presidential debate Sep. 26, 2008

You would think there would be nothing noteworthy about talking about how oil effects our foreign policy--except that was the ONLY specific reference to it in the debate apart from both McCain and Obama making very indirect references to "breaking our dependence on foreign oil."

That's a nice thought, but I'd rather hear some specifics like:

Did the oil industry prevent us from punishing Saudi Arabia for 9/11? The Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11 found that the Saudi government was responsible, but Bush classified that section of the report, and nothing else was ever said about it again.

http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2008...lied-about.html

For McCain & Biden: did you vote for the Iraq War because someone quietly convinced you that controlling Iraq's oil would somehow benefit average Americans, or did you know it was only meant to help oil companies?


Why haven't any of the candidates addressed the Hydrocarbon Law Bush tried to push on the Iraqis that would have given 88% of their oil profits to American big oil companies, and given those companies a seat on the committee that made decisions on their oil reserves? Don't you think that might have pissed off some Iraqis enough to take a shot at our troops?

http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2006...-resources.html


What do you expect to happen to the price of oil if we attack Iran?

Do you plan to try to occupy Iran?

Is it a wise foreign policy to kill so many people, making enemies that will last long after the last drop of oil is gone?