Energy Policy, on the arrogance and lack of vision of George Bush

[NYC_SKP]

As an environmentalist and energy conservation advocate, I'm well versed in the causes of high energy prices; refinery capacity, energy trading, and competition from other consumers world wide.
Chief among these factors is human behaviors and lifestyle choices, and our president should demonstrate leadership and support any legislation and regulations that support long-term energy security.
IMHO, we haven't seen the right attitudes toward energy policy by an administration since Carter.

I am optimistic that our next president would "reject and denounce" the sentiments, as they relate to American attitudes about energy, expressed by Ari Fleischer on behalf of George Bush during a press conference on May 7, 2001.

Excerpt:

Q Is one of the problems with this, and the entire energy field, American lifestyles? Does the President believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita, how much it exceeds any other citizen in any other country in the world, does the President believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?

MR. FLEISCHER: That's a big no. The President believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one. And we have a bounty of resources in this country. What we need to do is make certain that we're able to get those resources in an efficient way, in a way that also emphasizes protecting the environment and conservation, into the hands of consumers so they can make the choices that they want to make as they live their lives day to day.

link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/20010507.html

It's embarrassing, really. Also mentioned: gas tax holiday.

[ladjf]

1. Bush has the energy policy that he wants in place. That is, the oil

companies gouge the public for as much as possible for as long as possible. His guys pocket the loot
and the rest of the world suffers.

If oil continues its climb to say $155 per barrel, the American trucking and airlines are going to start "dropping like flies". We could have an almost complete shutdown of those industries. I can't
imagine what would happen after that other than economic chaos.

[NYC_SKP]

2. What were they thinking?

They're starting to drop already.
What were they thinking?

I personally suspect that Cheney, et al, expected the PNAC plan to become successful and that these little issues like oil would never matter with the US becoming the "boss of everyone".

That theory is for lack of anything better, I mean really-how could they not know that the shit would hit the fan?

[ladjf]

3. Its possible that their intellect doesn't equal their greed.