Legislation That Will End Our Dependence on Foreign Oil?
Without the worldwide recession driving down the price of oil, Americans might still be paying between $4 and $5 for a gallon of gasoline. If you are concerned about Peak Oil, those prices – although painful – hurt so good because for a brief period of time in 2008 the politicians in Washington began to notice that we don’t have a bridge built to the next energy future.
Demand for oil is down. Supplies are plentiful with reports of oil tankers being used for storage rather than delivery. Prices are low once again. Those trying to draw the masses attention to the issues facing industrial societies after the peak feel like we’re wasting more time dithering.
Today, a faint bright spot. In a fairly unremarkable message event at the White House, President Barack Obama said the following:
Finally, building on the Recovery Plan my administration is implementing and the budget I have proposed, we will be pursuing comprehensive legislation to finally end our addiction to foreign oil and prevent the worst consequences of climate change, while creating the incentives to finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.
So what is this legislation going to be all about? Will the U.S. move away from an energy policy which is merely focused on slaking our thirst for the black stuff? Is someone about to make the full court political press that will have neocons (foreign oil = national insecurity) cavorting with Al Gore?
There are certainly thorny issues in the world other than Peak Oil and the current world financial crisis is making many of them worse. Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel famously said during the transition that we shouldn’t waste a good crisis – in other words, while we have your attention we’d like to fix a few things.
It looks as if just when we thought the president may have moved our dependence on oil – foreign or otherwise – down the priority list, he may in fact have a pleasant surprise in store. I’m waiting for the “legislation.”
