Whether you're conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, you are feeling the pain at the pump. Four dollars per gallon gas definitely bites the big one, but so does the ridiculous debate happening in D.C. over our nation's energy policies. Congress is at it again scoring political points with it's respective bases with the normal political pandering.
On one side, you have the Republicans calling for drilling in ANWR, the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, home to Caribou and other native animals. They are the "drill at any cost crowd", as the Cato Insititute calls them, and they act as if the only way of obtaining oil and gas resources is at the sacrifice of possibly harming the enviromment. As one government official (who I will leave anonymous) said, "Build a fence in Alaska: put the freaking moose on one side of it, and a rig on the other."
On the other side, you have the Democrats. They're the guys who oppose everything the Republicans say or do...
They're calling for government mandates on fuel-efficiency in vehicles, more government subsidies to ethanol, wind, solar, and other alternative fuels. They oppose drilling in ANWR, as it would be disasterous to the native wildlife (as it would be), as well as all offshore drilling in some States. Their solution can be summed up with two words: government intervention.
My bone to pick with these individuals is this: Why do we allow irrational "drill here NOW" Republicans on one side wanting to build a rig in my backyard and kill Caribou for a few million barrels of oil and "don't drill at all" Democrats on the other side who want more government intervention in the economy to control the energy debate!
Any questions, comments...????
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Since drilling wouldn't help gas prices, I think it's perfectly rational for Democrats to oppose drilling as a solution to the oil crisis. There are other efforts being proposed, too, such as taxing excessive profits for oil companies (they're having record numbers right now) and keeping them from making short-term investments that cause prices to skyrocket when they pull out.
I think the real lunatics are the people who lie in order to push their agenda. For example, the people who say that there were no oil spills from the offshore rigs around Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. There definitely WERE oil spills from them, but it sounds better to say that when you're supporting offshore oil drilling.
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Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. --Mahatma Gandhi
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