You Say You Want a Revolution - July
3, 2:13 -
My friends at Progressive Future have asked me to guest blog over here
to talk about the reality that as we celebrate our independence from Great
Britain 232 years ago we find ourselves wholly dependent on another form of
tyranny, namely, oil.
There is no doubt about it, our country is painfully addicted to the nasty black stuff, and it's going to bring us down as a nation unless we break free, not just from foreign oil, but from all oil.
Now some people are saying that the solution to our oil crisis is to drill for more oil off the US coast. As Jon Stewart pointed out on the Daily Show last week, that's like a coke addict saying, "I have a cocaine problem. I’m out of cocaine. What say we turn the kids’ rooms into cocaineries." God love Jon Stewart.
Here's the reality. We are terribly addicted to an energy source that is literally choking us. Drilling for oil is dirty, dangerous and unpredictable. Shipping oil is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Both lead to massive oil spills that choke the environment and poison our people. Processing and burning the stuff leads to global warming. There's not a single aspect to oil that is good, unless you're a shareholder with ExxonMobil.
There's a reason the movie was called, 'There Will Be Blood', and not 'There Will Be Happiness'.
And frankly, I've had it up to here with oil getting a free ride. 232 years ago, the founding leaders of our country declared their independence from an unfair and unjust ruler, and while the names have changed - from King George of England to CEO Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil, the offensives conducted by each are shockingly similar, and I'd like to take a moment to make some comparisons:
Let the Real Debate on Offshore Drilling
Begin - July 2, 11:10 -
I'm doing a little post-swap with my friends over at Progressive
Future. This is from their recent blog entry - look for on of mine
over there tomorrow.
I don't know about you, but I'm still waiting.
Nearly two weeks ago, President Bush echoed John McCain's call to end our nation's moratorium on offshore drilling as a solution to high gas prices.
With our country hurtling toward a crossroads on energy policy, President Bush and Senator McCain have made their choice clear: the cure to our nation's addiction to oil is . . . wait for it . . . more oil!
What an opportunity to jump-start the national discussion about energy policy! What an opportunity to present a clear and compelling case for a different path toward a different future!
Instead, Democratic Party leaders and other well-meaning progressive voices have pointed out that it takes a long time to develop new offshore drilling wells. They've explained that even if these wells are developed, the impact on prices is likely to be small. They've warned that there's no way to prevent the oil that's drilled from leaving the U.S. And they've noted that the oil companies are already sitting on 68 million acres of federal land and water where they could drill right now.
Who
Has the Oil?
For decades politician's have lamented America's dependence on foreign oil.
Check out our map of "Who Has the Oil?" to see why politicians
who use domestic drilling as a solution are chasing a myth.
Check
Out the Map>>
