Quote of the Day:

“I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.” –John D. Rockefeller

TB knows some of y’all have been waiting for this. Yes, I’m outraged. And now is where I launch into my anti-oil industry, anti-drilling spiel. Not so fast. (Everybody together now…) You can’t pigeonhole me.

I favor American oil production on land and at sea. I do not favor it in the National Parks or in pristine, fragile environments that are thus far unexposed. However, even there, I don’t think we should permanently close the door on future oil production. I take the moderate viewpoint. Leaving oil production to the unfettered discretion of the oil companies is folly, as is shutting down offshore drilling entirely. What is called for is intense governmental regulation and oversight of production facilities. If we didn’t know before, we damn sure do now. The industry is not up to the task of policing itself. With the many billions in quarterly profits flowing to Big Oil, an immediate and substantial surtax on these profits should be adopted to (a) help the American consumer (b) fund the regulatory system that will force compliance with the highest technologically available safety standards possible (c) provide for a specialized superfund for cleanup of the current spill and future ones and most importantly (d) invest in not just alternate energy research, but implementation of currently existing solar and wind technologies at the consumer level. By this I mean beginning immediately a national federal initiative to install solar panels and/or wind turbines on all federal buildings and subsidizing the use of these technologies for use by private citizens. And immediately beginning construction of high speed regional passenger rail. And quickly moving to a 40 mile per gallon or better fuel standard for newly constructed vehicles.

Yep, it’ll be a high tax. They can afford it. And they owe us. That trillion dollar plus per year military budget is paid for by us. What’s it needed for? To protect our oil sources and our supply lines around the world above all else. In other words, to protect and ensure Big Oil’s ability to make billions in profit each quarter.

Getting off the oil won’t be done quickly. If we start now with common sense ideas like those I outlined and others, we will still surely need at least a couple of decades to effectively reduce our usage. The problem is, so many people find these type ideas radical and so many people find the idea that we’ll still need oil while we’re changing our culture radical. No, friends, the moderate, sensible position here is to drill. Carefully. And to move away from drilling with all due haste.

Meanwhile, we who love the coast watch and wait. And hope for the best.