Drill, Baby, Drill
Will try a topic not related to Health Care...and spurred on by a post from tmmcarthy0 (thanks) on a different topic.
The anniversary of 9-11 has me thinking (again) about how our national addiction to oil has affected our country, and many parts of the world. The terrorists who attacked us on that day were NOT from Iraq, but from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon. But, to Iraq we went to wage war. Likely for many reasons (which I don't want to argue about here) but one was definitely OIL. And the reason we didn't go after Saudi Arabia is also OIL. King Abdullah's regime has some of the most oppressive human rights in the world. Their record toward women is abominable; their support for wahabbism is destabilizing; their oil is oh, so lovely. Saddam was an awful person and dictator also, but his oil didn't flow well into world markets.
Our national requirement for more oil -- the majority of which is imported -- requires us to pursue foreign policy with special consideration to oil access. Importantly, when you look at those countries whose economy depends on the extraction of oil, you see a who's who of despots, dictators and human rights abusers. Leaders in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, Russia, Nigeria, Libya, Angola, Kazakhstan all obtain a large percentage of their wealth from oil exports. And our demand (representing 25% of world demand) drives up the price which sends more of our wealth into the pockets of those leaders.
Imported oil is a serious national security issue...and hampers our ability to pursue other national interests both domestically and globally. So I would love to see the administration do the following:
To reduce demand...increase the gas tax. Gasoline is responsible for half our oil consumption. Scrap the complicated and opaque cap-and-trade. Go simple and direct: Start the gas tax with an additional $0.08 per gallon and increase it by $0.08 per month (almost $1 / year) until the tax reaches $4-$5 per gallon. People will be buying hybrids and scrapping those SUV's so fast it will make your head spin.
To increase supply...drill for more oil in the US, now, everywhere. Drill in ANWR; drill off the coasts; drill in the gulf; convert oil shales; provide support if needed to make the oil shales economical. This won't help forever, but it will help in the short-term (<20 years). And, it will be done with less impact to the global environment than having other countries drill in less-developed and less-responsible parts of the world.
Take the proceeds from the tax on gas to invest tens of billions of dollars into the development of alternative energy sources...now. Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Natural Gas, Electric Batteries, Fuel Cells...all of it. Fund it inside the Defense Department -- it is a national security imperative.
Sell all of this to the American people in terms of national security, global human rights and respect for the environment. Both Democrats and Republicans can support it for their own reasons...but it will be a way to reduce imported oil quickly and ultimately eliminate our dependence on oil altogether.
The anniversary of 9-11 has me thinking (again) about how our national addiction to oil has affected our country, and many parts of the world. The terrorists who attacked us on that day were NOT from Iraq, but from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon. But, to Iraq we went to wage war. Likely for many reasons (which I don't want to argue about here) but one was definitely OIL. And the reason we didn't go after Saudi Arabia is also OIL. King Abdullah's regime has some of the most oppressive human rights in the world. Their record toward women is abominable; their support for wahabbism is destabilizing; their oil is oh, so lovely. Saddam was an awful person and dictator also, but his oil didn't flow well into world markets.
Our national requirement for more oil -- the majority of which is imported -- requires us to pursue foreign policy with special consideration to oil access. Importantly, when you look at those countries whose economy depends on the extraction of oil, you see a who's who of despots, dictators and human rights abusers. Leaders in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, Russia, Nigeria, Libya, Angola, Kazakhstan all obtain a large percentage of their wealth from oil exports. And our demand (representing 25% of world demand) drives up the price which sends more of our wealth into the pockets of those leaders.
Imported oil is a serious national security issue...and hampers our ability to pursue other national interests both domestically and globally. So I would love to see the administration do the following:
To reduce demand...increase the gas tax. Gasoline is responsible for half our oil consumption. Scrap the complicated and opaque cap-and-trade. Go simple and direct: Start the gas tax with an additional $0.08 per gallon and increase it by $0.08 per month (almost $1 / year) until the tax reaches $4-$5 per gallon. People will be buying hybrids and scrapping those SUV's so fast it will make your head spin.
To increase supply...drill for more oil in the US, now, everywhere. Drill in ANWR; drill off the coasts; drill in the gulf; convert oil shales; provide support if needed to make the oil shales economical. This won't help forever, but it will help in the short-term (<20 years). And, it will be done with less impact to the global environment than having other countries drill in less-developed and less-responsible parts of the world.
Take the proceeds from the tax on gas to invest tens of billions of dollars into the development of alternative energy sources...now. Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Natural Gas, Electric Batteries, Fuel Cells...all of it. Fund it inside the Defense Department -- it is a national security imperative.
Sell all of this to the American people in terms of national security, global human rights and respect for the environment. Both Democrats and Republicans can support it for their own reasons...but it will be a way to reduce imported oil quickly and ultimately eliminate our dependence on oil altogether.
