Friday, March 7, 2008

Gilmore speaks on energy...yawn..

Governor Jim Gilmore just released his strategies for weaning America away from it's dependence on foreign oil. Not surprisingly, the only things he is in favor of recycling are yesterday's tired and worn solutions. Governor Gilmore is living with yesterday's solutions to the energy crisis. His four point plan:

“First off, we need to develop the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) project in Alaska, which is estimated to have between 10 to 18 billion barrels of recoverable oil,” stated Gilmore.

“Second, exploration and drilling off our coasts needs to be increased, considering we currently only do so in 15 percent of our nation’s offshore areas.”

“Third, new oil refineries need to be built in America and to do so we need to streamline our regulatory process to eliminate counterproductive regulations that are raising our gas prices and damaging our economy,” Gilmore added.

“And lastly, we need to pursue the added benefit of nuclear power, which will not only help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but offers a cleaner power source for our environment.”


These ideas been junked and debunked since 1970! There isn't a BAD idea here, except that all of these are OLD ideas. Tried and discarded. Sure, the ideas are great for the oil companies and the nuclear industry, but environmental concerns and LESS dependence on inefficient energy sources are not their concerns. Mr. Gilmore, good Republican, is steadfastly asserting that it's not what YOU can do for your country, it's what the OIL COMPANIES can do for your country.

Points one, two, and three: He would have us increase oil production, correspondingly decreasing the quality of the environment. Since we are addicted to oil, it doesn't make any sense to INCREASE the supply. These policies are NOT helpful in weaning us away from our dependence on foreign oil.

The oil that we would get from Alaska DOES NOT belong the United States, but to the oil companies that drill it. A strong possibility exists that they would find it more profitable to sell the Alaskan oil in Asia!

In Prudhoe Bay, environmental studies have found the surface pretty clean, but under the sand and rocks the beaches, rivers, and estuaries were still heavily polluted. The herring fish were wiped out, forcing much wildlife to migrate elsewhere. The sea otters are starving and the caribou just vanished.

Point four: Nuclear Power? Three Mile Island! We can store the Nuclear waste right here in the Shenandoah Valley! Great idea! Next....

I suggest that Governor Gilmore try out some truly conservative strategies for developing energy independence. How about wasting less gas? Mandate higher fuel efficiency in automobiles. How about bio-fuels and hybrid cars? How about working with solar power, recycling, wind power, and all sorts of Green construction techniques. These are the solutions for the future! Governor Gilmore is still mired in the past.

A good source: Oil on Ice. A much more detailed analysis is yours to explore.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's a poem about global warming and global war-ing.

Brent Holl said...

I've heard the comment many times, "the jokes just keep writing themselves." In this case your poetry hits the mark. I laughed this morning, HARD. Thanks for nailing this for me. Sometimes prose just doesn't say enough. Great poem.