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Mr. Bush, Lead or Leave
Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times
Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was “addicted to oil,” and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: “Get more addicted to oil.”
Actually, it’s more sophisticated than that: Get Saudi Arabia, our chief oil pusher, to up our dosage for a little while and bring down the oil price just enough so the renewable energy alternatives can’t totally take off. Then try to strong arm Congress into lifting the ban on drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
It’s as if our addict-in-chief is saying to us: “C’mon guys, you know you want a little more of the good stuff. One more hit, baby. Just one more toke on the ole oil pipe.
… [President Bush] hasn’t lifted a finger to broker passage of legislation that has been stuck in Congress for a year, which could actually impact America’s energy profile right now – unlike offshore oil that would take years to flow – and create good tech jobs to boot.
That bill is H.R. 6049 – “The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008,” which extends for another eight years the investment tax credit for installing solar energy and extends for one year the production tax credit for producing wind power and for three years the credits for geothermal, wave energy and other renewables.
These critical tax credits for renewables are set to expire at the end of this fiscal year and, if they do, it will mean thousands of jobs lost and billions of dollars of investments not made.
… [A real president would] give us a big strategic plan to end our addiction to oil and build a bipartisan coalition to deliver it. He certainly wouldn’t be using his last days in office to threaten Congressional Democrats that if they don’t approve offshore drilling by the Fourth of July recess, they will be blamed for $4-a-gallon gas. That is so lame. That is an energy policy so unworthy of our Independence Day.
(22 June 2008)
At editor David Roberts says that Friedman “kicks ass” in today’s column. -BA
Surviving peak oil will require rethinking our transportation policies
A. Robert Thurman, Salt Lake Tribune
There should have been banner headlines in every newspaper in the country. It should have been the lead story on every newscast. On June 7 U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced that the world had reached peak oil output and that demand was outracing supply.
Instead, Bodman’s pronouncement in Japan, before the energy chiefs of eight industrialized countries, drew virtually no notice. Bodman did not use the term “peak oil,” but the situation he described, flat global oil production dating back to 2005, coupled with ever-increasing demand, including hefty increases in demand from China and India, precisely fits the paradigm of peak oil.
A. ROBERT THURMAN is a retired administrative law judge for the Utah Public Service Commission. He taught commercial law at Utah State University and was in private law practice with a natural resources law firm.
(21 June 2008)
On Energy: Same-Old, Same-Old
Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post
Listening to the back and forth this week about oil drilling and energy prices, you have to wonder whether there’s anyone in Washington who understands what leadership is about.
This is about more than our immediate discomfort with $4 gasoline. Embedded in the energy debate are questions about global warming, the competitiveness of the U.S. economy and the apparent decline in middle-class living standards.
… The frustrating thing about this standoff is that both sides have it half-right. Republicans are right that we need more oil and gas drilling, more refineries and a revival of nuclear power. And Democrats are right in demanding that we finally get serious about conservation, crack down on speculation and market manipulation, and recycle windfall profits into alternative energy sources.
(20 June 2008)
Commentators in the Washington Post are often criticized because they continually decry partisanship by Democrats and Republicans, and declare they have found Truth somewhere between the two positions. The problem is that the universe is larger than American politics – Republicans and Democrats do not represent all the possibilities of intelligent discourse. Also, you really have to look at the facts of the case, not just a simple “split the difference.” For example, in this column Mr. Pearlstein ignores the possibility of peak oil. -BA
The ‘Idle’ Oil Field Fallacy
Red Cavaney, Wall Street Journal
A bill introduced in Congress this week would “compel” oil and natural gas companies to produce from federal lands they are leasing. If only it were that easy to find and produce oil. Imagine, an act of Congress that could do what geology could not.
These lawmakers ask why oil and gas companies want more access to federal lands to drill if they aren’t using all of the 68 million acres they already have? Anyone with even the most basic understanding of how oil and natural gas are produced – and this should include many members of Congress – knows that claims of “idle” leases are a diversionary feint.
(20 June 2008)
Lofty oil could lead to more-resilient economy
Joanne Morrison, Reuters
The wrenching adjustments U.S. consumers and businesses have begun to make to cope with sky-high energy costs mark the start of a painful process that should lead to a more energy-efficient, resilient economy.
U.S. households, forced to spend more at the gasoline pump, are shifting away from pricier items and cutting down on miles driven, while companies are planning to invest in more energy-efficient equipment to control costs.
(20 June 2008)
Long analysis.
