Reply #45: Self defense, but not "standard of living"

[Hekate]

I can't even remember how long ago I heard a president say we had to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but it certainly was not original to Dubya's gang. After 9-11 I heard it again, and then it was in context of drilling for the oil that is under my beach and destroying the ecology of Alaskan wildlife refuge. Vice President George H.W. Bush probably said it best when he went to South America for an energy conference: "The American way of life is not negotiable."

I think it is obvious that so far no one in this country with the power to actually effect change has been all that serious. If they were, they would have slapped a solar panel on every public building in every county of the country. If the powers-that-be were in the least serious they would force the automakers to stop pushing SUVs and start cranking out cars with alternate fuel technology. 9-11 provided the perfect opportunity to do something like that, but no.

Oil isn't like food, it's more like an addiction, and not long after Bush Jr. ascended the throne it became clear to me that the big oil companies have no incentive to slow drilling and find alternatives, and they have no intention of stopping until the last drop of crude has been wrung from the soil.

I read recently that the defense industry/military is the single greatest user of oil -- that nothing they use from jets to jeeps is designed with fuel efficiency in mind.But if we only started with personal cars and solar cells on our roofs we could ensure the protection of our standard of living for a long time to come.

~~~On the whole, I prefer not to be lectured on patriotism by those who keep offshore maildrops in order to avoid paying their taxes. ~Molly Ivins~
Anybody But Bush in 2004