30 years ago Dick Cheney helped scuttle an ambitious alternative energy plan in the Ford administration
Sid9
Op-Ed Columnist
A Prius in Every Pot
By MAUREEN DOWD
It's taken over five years, but George W. Bush finally made a concession
speech to Al Gore.
He conceded that America needs to conserve, by buying hybrid vehicles and
developing new energy sources.
Trying to calm the yips in his party and the country over exploding gasoline
prices, the president sounded a bit like a wild-eyed Ozone Man himself
yesterday, extolling the virtues of alternative fuel derived from cooking
grease, sugar, grass, wood chips, soybean oil and corn.
But then he got ahold of himself. "You just got to recognize there are
limits to how much corn can be used for ethanol," he said, standing in front
of a bucolic mural. "After all, we got to eat some."
You could run a fleet of S.U.V.'s on the gas that W. was spewing about fuel.
Bill Clinton would have been more likely to crack down on fast food than W.
and Dick Cheney would be to crack down on Big Oil.
Even the usually supportive Wall Street Journal editorial page chastised
Republicans for putting on "Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi fright wigs" to
shout about corporate greed and market manipulation.
W.'s big move was to ever so slightly beef up a federal investigation into
oil company price manipulation that's been under way since Katrina. "It's a
great idea," said the Democratic leader, Senator Harry Reid. "So good that
we passed a law last year calling for that."
Price manipulation could explain the marginal - why gas went from, say,
$2.70 to $2.90 - but not why gas went from $1.40 to $2.70. That's more about
fundamental forces: Chinese and Indian demand, markets spooked by Iran's
threats, Nigeria's unrest, Venezuela's talk of nationalizing its oil
industry, and the Pentagon's bungling of the restoration of Iraq's
infrastructure.
Gasoline prices may be hurting average folks, but the oilers who helped put
the Boy King and the Duke of Halliburton in office with lavish donations are
enjoying record profits and breathtaking bonuses.
The Oilmen in the Oval, incompetent in so many ways, have brilliantly
achieved one of their main objectives: boosting the fortunes of the oil
industry and the people who run it.
All those secret meetings the vice president had back in 2001, letting the
energy and oil big shots help write our energy policy - one that urged more
oil and gas drilling - worked like a charm. In all their years in
government, Mr. Cheney and the Bushes have never done anything to hold the
oil companies' feet to the fire, or get Americans' feet off the gas pedal.
As Representative James Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, noted, "The
Republicans are the party with the keys to the executive washrooms of
Halliburton, Exxon and the big oil corporations."
Consider Lee Raymond, the recently retired chairman and chief executive of
Exxon. Recently, we learned about his stunning secret compensation: he got
more than $686 million from 1993 to 2005, according to a Times story, which
calculated: "That is $144,573 for each day he spent leading Exxon's 'God
pod,' as the executive suite at the company's headquarters in Irving, Tex.,
is known."
The only oil baron who isn't cashing in these days is Saddam. We pulled up
to the pump in Baghdad and plunked down $10 billion a month, and we're still
not getting any gas out of it. Instead of easing our oil dependence and
paying for Iraq's reconstruction, the bungled invasion and subsequent
nuclear sparring with Iran have left even Republicans looking for Priuses.
The last time W. began wringing his hands about our addiction to oil - in
the State of the Union address - the vice president was dismissive about the
notion of sacrifice afterward. And the energy secretary clarified the
president's words, saying they shouldn't be taken literally and that the
idea of replacing Middle East oil imports with alternative fuels was "purely
an example."
Even if W. shows up on TV in a gray cardigan, it's patently preposterous for
the Republicans to make this argument, after selling us on the idea that
it's our manifest destiny to get into giant cars and go to giant Wal-Marts
and giant Targets and buy more giant bags of stuff. Now they're telling us
to squeeze into tiny electric cars and compete for precious drips of oil
with the Chinese and Indians who are swimming in enough of our dollars to
afford cars.
The U.S. could have begun developing alternative fuels 30 years ago if Dick
Cheney hadn't helped scuttle an ambitious plan in the Ford administration.
By the time these guys get gas from cooking grease, global warming will have
us cooked.
--
*Had Enough*?
*Had enough Republican corruption*?
*Had enough Republican incompetence*?
*Had enough Republican false religiosity*?
*Had enough Republican secret government*?
*Had enough Republican failed foreign policy*?
*Had enough Republican financial mismanagement*?
*Had enough Republican interference in private family matters*?
*Had enough Republican fear mongering*
*Had enough Republican lies*?
*Had enough Republican high fuel prices*?
*Had enough Republican bad judgment*?
Billy
$5.00 a gallon gas?
Igor The Terrible
WE NEED A 3RD PARTY!!!
Both dems and repukes are shit....can the pieces of shit and replace
them with people who will do the jobs they promised the voters they'll
do..
Whoratio strokes off to child porn
news:sGT3g.12557$TK1.12013@fed1read06...
> 30 years ago, isn't that about the time Al Gore wrote the book calling
> for $5.00 a gallon gas?
And he was right back then and you're still an idiot.
If we had much higher gas taxes 30 years ago, gas would cost about the
same today. The difference would be we would have an excellent public
transportation system like they have in Europe, we would have clean air
to breathe, and we wouldn't be importing any oil.
Instead our public transportation system sucks, asthma deaths are
epidemic, we import half our oil, and gas is still expensive.
And guess what? In 20 years or so you will be sucking Saudi dick for
your oil fix.
Billy
"Whoratio strokes off to child porn" <som...@microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:HCU3g.8288$BO2.897@trnddc02...
> "Billy" <neve...@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:sGT3g.12557$TK1.12013@fed1read06...
>> 30 years ago, isn't that about the time Al Gore wrote the book calling
>> for $5.00 a gallon gas?
>
> And he was right back then and you're still an idiot.
Feel free to pay as much as you like, I'm sure they will take your money
Bernard Spilman
"Igor The Terrible" <igor_the...@mad.scientist.com> wrote in message
news:1146096068.7...@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
It tells me all the idiots who voted for
Bush twice have given up on trying to
defend republican incompetence and
starting screaming "third party" so they
can drag the Democrats down the shithole
with their crooked republicans.
WS
Tartarus Sanctus
> 30 years ago, isn't that about the time Al Gore wrote the book calling for
> $5.00 a gallon gas?
Probably not. At least you didn't call him algore, though.
--
Monsignor Tartarus Sanctus
the_blogologist
Any 3rd party movement that competes with democrats is crushed by the
left. They can't stand competition.
The PretZel
<som...@microsoft.com> said:
Our King does that now. He even kisses them and holds their hand...
http://www.iran-daily.com/1384/2297/html/dotcoms.htm#68379
--
"I gotta get out of this place, it's all liberals here."
-Timothy McVeigh
Roedy Green
quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
>
>But then he got ahold of himself. "You just got to recognize there are
>limits to how much corn can be used for ethanol," he said, standing in front
>of a bucolic mural. "After all, we got to eat some."
Nearly all the corn goes for cattle feed. It is delicious food, but
an expensive one in terms of energy, land, water and sewage disposal.
The feedlots around a small Alberta town are equivalent to over a
million extra inhabitants in terms of water and sewage. Most other
cultures use meat more as a flavouring or as a treat, rather than the
bulk of a meal. Cow farts are oddly, the most noticeable sign of life
on earth from cosmic distances. Cattle produce huge amounts of
methane (a greenhouse gas 50 times more potent that CO2).
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
http://mindprod.com Java custom programming, consulting and coaching.
Roedy Green
quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
> Chinese and Indian demand, markets spooked by Iran's
>threats, Nigeria's unrest, Venezuela's talk of nationalizing its oil
>industry, and the Pentagon's bungling of the restoration of Iraq's
>infrastructure.
They can't restore it. The USA broke it on purpose by starting a
pointless war, and it will stay broken as long as anyone with a buck
for a stick of dynamite wants to keep blowing up the pipelines.
Even after the Americans leave, you could still have a game of
Unan1mous, where all three factions blow up the pipelines to stop the
other two from getting any revenue.
The bright side of his is, Iraq's oil may come in handy in 20 years
when other supplies are almost gone.
To bring peace without a new ironman dictator, you may need to
partition the country in three. Recall the scenes of the insanity
around the partition of India in a similar intractable situation.
Roedy Green
quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
>30 years ago, isn't that about the time Al Gore wrote the book calling for
>$5.00 a gallon gas?
The USA in unusual in that the road system is subsidised out of
general revenue to the tune of about $3 a gallon. That is why you hear
of gasoline being so much more expensive elsewhere.
The problem with any subsidy it is distorts consumption by encouraging
waste and uneconomic choices. For example, even when rail is more
energy efficient than trucking, trucking is still cheaper because of
the subsidy.
When fuel is short you really should not be subsidising people to use
it frivolously.
I think you should make gasoline pay its weight including the cost of
reads, policing, right of ways AND the medical costs to society of the
pollution. It is a standard principle of law. They guy gets the
benefits or causes the damage pays. If you don't do that, you are
unconsciously doing social engineering, in this case encouraging
people to consume fuel and drive more, great for the oil companies,
but not good for the country.
Larry Hewitt
"the_blogologist" <nob...@nowheres.com> wrote in message
news:1hefcu9.1m3zorj30rpv2N%nob...@nowheres.com...
No reasonable thrive party movement has arisen for 100 years.
Every recent movement has either been single issue or fringe --- or both.
They self destruct.
And all this is another rightard attempt to divert attention from Cheney;s
malfeasance.
He killed a plan 30 years ago that could have alleviated out current
problems because of naked self interest. And now he and his alter ego Bush
continue to do nothing to solve our energy problem while reaping hundreds of
millions in stock options antihero income.
Larry
Rich Travsky
>
> 30 years ago, isn't that about the time Al Gore wrote the book calling for
> $5.00 a gallon gas?
Nope.
Sid9
Under Carter we lowered our thermostats,
we dimmed lights, public buildings reduced
their lighting....we did all kinds of things to
conserve energy...then came President
Senility....It was "Let the Good Times Roll"
laizzez les bon temps roulez!
Cheney blocked energy reform with the help
of his Republican brethern....here we are
30 years later...naked!
*Had Enough*?
*Had enough Republican corruption*?
*Had enough Republican secret government*?
*Had enough Republican financial mismanagement*?
*Had enough Republican incompetence*?
*Had enough Republican fear mongering*?
*Had enough Republican false religiosity*?
*Had enough Republican immorality*?
*Had enough Republican lies*?
*Had enough Republican unnecessary war*?
Billy
"Sid9" <si...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:Bz94g.31989$Kh5....@bignews8.bellsouth.net...
> Rich Travsky wrote:
>> Billy wrote:
>>>
>>> 30 years ago, isn't that about the time Al Gore wrote the book
>>> calling for $5.00 a gallon gas?
>>
>> Nope.
>
>
> Under Carter we lowered our thermostats,
> we dimmed lights, public buildings reduced
> their lighting....we did all kinds of things to
> conserve energy...
You want to conserve .... CONSERVE and STFU
Kent Allard
Why do you hate America?
Alohacyberian
>
So why didn't the Democrats push the "ambitious alternative energy plan""
through during the Carter Administration when the Dems also controlled
Congress? Not ambitious enough? Or is it just easier to blame Republicans
for all their failings? KM
--
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Marinus van der Lubbe
> "Sid9" <si...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
> news:xWS3g.11868$t61....@bignews6.bellsouth.net...
>>
> So why didn't the Democrats push the "ambitious alternative energy plan""
> through during the Carter Administration when the Dems also controlled
> Congress? Not ambitious enough? Or is it just easier to blame
> Republicans
> for all their failings? KM
You either have selective amnesia or you were not alive back then. The
Carter administration did have alternative energy programs, especially when
that phony oil embargo happened.
You want to compare Dimmos with Repugs? Carter installed solar panels on the
roof of the White House and Reagan had them removed.
Scotius
Iraq is partly an oil war, and two thirds of the Dems voted to
go ahead with it. That makes it appear to me that there are plenty of
Dems sneaking into the parties in those exclusive clubs, doesn't it to
you?