THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 143, June 11, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WHY CAN'T JOHN MCCAIN SAY "OIL"?
By Alan Caruba
HOW TO REDUCE ENERGY PRICES IN THE U.S.A.: ELIMINATE THE CONGRESSIONAL MANDATE FOR ETHANOL; GET
RID OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S MANDATE FOR THE FORMULATION OF SOME FORTY-FIVE DIFFERENT
BLENDS OF GASOLINE; IMMEDIATELY OPEN UP FOR OIL DRILLING THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE; ALLOW OIL
COMPANIES TO EXPLORE & DRILL FOR OIL & NATURAL GAS ON AMERICA'S ATLANTIC & PACIFIC CONTINENTAL SHELVES.
FULL STORY:
While grabbing a bite to eat for lunch, I turned on the television, and MSNBC was broadcasting live a presentation
John McCain was making somewhere. He does well in these relatively unscripted events, but when he got to the topic
of the price of gasoline and how to reduce current and future pain at the pump, he could not bring himself to say “oil.”
He ran off a string of “alternative” energy ideas such as solar, wind, nuclear, and “a battery that will let your car go a
hundred miles” on a single charge, but there was no mention of America’s vast oil reserves in Alaska or the billions of
barrels geologists believe exist in our continental shelf, 85% of which Congress has put off-limits to exploration or
drilling. There was also no mention of the coal that accounts for more than 50% of the electricity in the U.S. and which
would be required by his magical future automobiles.
In fairness, neither Bill Clinton nor George W. Bush favored drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where
an estimated 7 to 15 billion barrels of oil exists. That's a total of 16 wasted years when we could have been extracting it.
That is precisely why America has become dependent on foreign oil, the price of which is currently being bid up by
speculators worried about more war in the Middle East, i.e., an imminent attack on Iran. First, we had to kick Saddam
Hussein out of Kuwait and, then. we decided to remove him entirely. Was this about tyranny, or about oil? Read my
lips: O-I-L.
As for Iran's nuclear ambitions, the same action Israel took, first with Iraq and more recently with Syria would end that.
Or we could, in cooperation with the European Union and other nations, cut off foreign investment and markets to the
ayatollahs, until they cry "Uncle Sam!"
As the Saudis keep telling us, there is plenty of global oil to meet our needs, but it is the mercantile exchanges around
the world where the price is set. Lacking an adequate domestic supply, Americans depend daily on the importation of
10.1 million barrels of foreign oil. We use 5.1 million barrels of domestic oil, and are required to add 0.4 million barrels of
ethanol.
You can thank OPEC and Jimmy Carter for the pathetic state of domestic oil production. It has been in decline since the
OPEC oil embargo that saw the first real jump in prices at the pump. You would have thought we would have taken a look
at our capacity for domestic oil production, but what Carter did -- and some politicians (including Barack Obama!) are
advocating today -- was to impose a “windfall profits” tax on American investor-owned oil companies.
All of a sudden, the incentive to spend the millions required to find oil and produce it for domestic consumption
disappeared, a condition that dates back to at least 1985. Thereafter, since most of the places in America where oil can be
found were put off-limits, U.S. oil companies decided to look and drill for oil elsewhere in the world. (The exception is the
Gulf of Mexico.)
With either McCain or Obama in the White House, new domestic exploration and drilling is not likely to happen,
particularly since McCain cannot bring himself to even say the word “oil” and Obama wants to seize oil company profits
in precisely the same way Jimmy Carter sabotaged the petroleum industry.
The recent charade of hauling oil company executives before a congressional committee demonstrates what idiots we have
elected to high office.
While McCain is reeling off his list of alternative energy sources, he neglects to mention that you can’t pour solar, wind or
nuclear energy into the tank of an automobile, truck, or tractor! McCain has drunk deeply of the global warming Kool-Aid
and favors the kind of carbon credit program that was just defeated in the Senate. Both he and Obama were conveniently
out of town when the vote on Al Gore’s cap-and-trade scheme was taken. Otherwise, we would have discovered that both
presidential candidates cannot wait to destroy what is left of our economy.
How to turn things around is almost too simple.
First, get rid of the congressional mandate for ethanol. Ethanol effluent pollutes more than gasoline and ethanol insures less
mileage per gallon. It has significantly distorted the worldwide agricultural marketplace.
Second, get rid of the EPA mandate for the formulation of some 45 different blends of gasoline that drive up the cost in
various areas of the nation. Consumers end up paying for all this essentially useless additional refining process. Unless you
live in some place where the natural geography contributes to smog, the air in most of the nation is just fine.
Third, open up ANWR to drilling. NOW!
Fourth, let oil companies explore and drill for oil and natural gas offshore of our coasts. Environmentalists want to build miles
of ugly wind farms there, but a couple of drill platforms are apparently too awful to endure for the literally billions of barrels
of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas that exist.
Then, wait patiently as the price of oil and natural gas drop like a stone.
Frankly, both the presidential candidates scare the hell out of me, but I will settle for McCain, if he just begins to say that
magic word, OIL.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a
clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary, "Warning Signs," posted
on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Caruba has a daily blog at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.
Caruba’s new book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press.
© Alan Caruba 2008
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity