Bravo for you, Tux. That’s great that you’re saving energy and improving your health, both at the same time. I know not everyone can do that (including me!); but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a terrific thing to do.

“Lost”, not many people will defend the oil companies’ profits. And I’m not one of them. So IMHO, your point is legitimate and deserves to be heard.

The problem is, though, that many people in this country tend to want to simplify things and assign ’blame’ on issues like this. Are oil companies reporting record profits? Yes. But nowhere in the national discussion is there much mention of how many billions of dollars those companies sink into exploration and drilling for new oil reserves every year. And how many of those efforts turn out to be dry holes—money lost, in other words. I’m not defending them—just trying to point out that this whole energy issue is enormously complex—and it’s the very last kind of problem that lends itself to simple answers.

If we tax the bejesus out of the oil companies, it won’t produce a single additional drop of petroleum to meet our constantly-growing demand. It won’t build a single new refinery. It won’t lessen our truly frightening reliance on imported oil—the lifeblood of our economy. It won’t do anything except make some people feel better—and let our elected leaders totally off the hook in terms of responsibility for setting a really sensible and achievable national energy policy.

Every dollar we send to OPEC is one we’re not spending on our own energy security and independence. And a significant number of those billions and billions of dollars we pay OPEC nations every year go to support regimes that don’t share our national values—to say the very least.

This is America. We have the brains, the resources, and we USED to have the national will to tackle extremely difficult challenges. And there ARE answers available to us, right now.

Look at what Deeboy is doing—he’s gaining a very important degree of genuine energy independence for himself and his family. This Fourth of July, I salute you for that, Deeboy! Not only will you see your utility bills decrease, now and for many years to come—but you’ve made a pretty darn good financial investment, too. Solar panel systems offer a rate of return that amounts to between 5-11%. Try getting that rate from a lot of other investments! And there are other current and promising technologies.

But we’re not paying enough attention to them. We’re not supporting them enough. We’re not educating enough people about them.

What’s really scary is what lies a short distance down the road. Emerging nations, with high-growth-rate economies, are going to be sucking crude oil up for their own needs at a faster and faster rate. Worldwide supplies of crude will tighten even more. Worldwide oil prices will inevitably rise as a result. Any serious disruptions in production or refining will carry potentially catastrophic results, as the ‘ripple effect’ is felt around the globe.

We’re seriously at risk in this country. On a daily basis. And we have been for far too long. I’m afraid it’s going to take an energy crisis that makes the last two I had to deal with look like tea parties in comparison, to finally get our attention and get our leaders to finally take some concrete action to get our national security and independence back.

I fervently hope it doesn’t happen. But our national track record of the last thirty-plus years, and too many indications on the horizon for the future, says it very likely will.

  WOW I wonder if ADAM  W sees this wonderful ripple

               effectaffect from his post. Thank-you Adam. You all have the kind of minds that can come up with logical solutions to problems others only worry about. But I DO KNOW communicating with your elected officials may not seem like it makes a difference,but it does. If a vote is coming up then that is the time to make the e-mails and phone calls. ADAM has given the link to it. Other wise they figure no one cares one way or another. I vote for wind power and solar and oil from McDonald's french fries. to power anything and everything.

myrootbeerfloat2007-07-04 20:27:24