An America First Energy Plan

One of the things that irritates me the most is when people repeat, like trained parrots, the idiotic line: "We are addicted to oil!" I know, even President Bush has repeated it, but it is still an idiotic thing to say.

How about this: "The human body is addicted to food!" It's the same thing, but on a much, much smaller scale. You see, saying that our economy and culture is addicted to oil is like saying that oil is some form of opiate that we get high off of. But, from my human body/food analogy you can clearly see that this is not the case.

We use the energy we get from oil to provide power for our industries and to power our everyday lives, just as our bodies use energy from the foods we eat to power our bodily functions (like heartbeat, breathing, locomotion, etc.). We are no more addicted to oil than we are to eating food.

Now do you see how idiotic that parroted line is?

So, why bring this up? There was a good column yesterday over at CNBC by Larry Kudlow. Here is an excerpt:

America First should be the rallying cry. We have the natural resources to become the Saudi Arabia of coal and the Saudi Arabia of oil. Lift the moratoriums. Stop attacking our own businesses. Put technology to work. Put venture capital to work, with rock-bottom capital-gains and corporate tax rates. Stop being mau-maued by the extremist greenies who have prevented energy production for over three decades. America First. Unleash our free-enterprise energy sector: 2 trillion barrels worth of shale; 90 billion barrels of offshore oil; at least 10 billion barrels up in ANWR and more throughout Alaska, both onshore and off. Politically, Sen. McCain must also understand how Hillary Clinton clobbered Barack Obama in the big state primaries: Blue-collar workers. They can be the key to victory for McCain. Guess who works in the energy business? Blue collar Reagan Democrats. They work on the rigs. They work in the fields. They drive the trucks. And they’re paid high wages -- substantially above the average hourly wage. Or McCain can sell it this way: American workers are worried about jobs going offshore to India, China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. Well, a drill, drill, drill, America First energy plan would create millions of new domestic American jobs. Of course, there’s also a national security aspect to this. Worried about funding terrorist rogue states? Drill, drill, drill. A complete portfolio of oil energy sources in America -- that’s the answer.

These paragraphs give a very clear picture as to exactly how issues are all intertwined. Here we have energy prices, taxes, employment and national security. I really wish our Congressionaol Reps had this much sense and foresight.

More:

Sen. Obama is opposed to drilling. Opposed to nuclear. Opposed to coal. He and Harry Reid believe wind, solar, and ethanol are the answers. They’re not. It’s doubtful even at full development and commercialization that these alternative technologies will ever power more than 10 percent of our energy needs. We should go down this road as part of a full energy portfolio. But let’s not kid ourselves: These sources alone will never be sufficient. Sen. McCain has to make this case daily. He must contrast his America First energy plan with Obama’s declinist American vision. He must argue America First for fuel, power, jobs, wages, and national security. He must enlist the Reagan Democrats who may be out of work and are surely angry at $4 gas at the pump and $140 a barrel oil in the world market. Take a page from Ronald Reagan, Mr. McCain. Be optimistic about our future. Be clear, straightforward, and consistent. We can grow this economy and remain number one. This is how to do it.

I know Barack Obama will never listen to such common sense advice. But Senator McCain has the potential. Will he listen? Let's hope so.

You can access the complete column on-line here:

An America First Energy Plan
Larry Kudlow
CNBC.com
July 2, 2008