| For those of us who care about issues like energy and the environment,
these are appalling times.
The Bush energy proposal calls for a $278 million cut for renewables and effiency; 2 billion in additional
spending for coal. The house energy legislation passed $33.5 billion in tax breaks, 80% of it going to big energy. Why
further subsidize these industries?
These are not least cost choices. They are not the best choices
for the economy. These are choices that line the pockets of big, rich, centralized energy - and fattens their tax
write-offs - at the expense of you and me. We’re in Reagan retro,
strength-through-exhaustion mode, times ten.
Combined with his tax cut, Bush has boxed himself in. Watch the economy tank. Inefficient
spending on destabilizing bondoggles like star wars ain’t gonna’ save it. Paying off Wall Street with his
Social Security boondoggle won’t either. How about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
drilling scheme? Oil at an estimated $34/ barrel? There are billions of barrels worth of cheaper
investments: investments in conservation and efficiency that yield cheaper barrels of oil.
Not to mention that drilling destroys one of the last intact ecosystems on the planet. The
industry arguments for drilling ANWR are weak, and sick.
There are alternatives. Let’s invest in efficiency and conservation, raise the CAFE standards,
and close the loop-holes on truck and SUV emissions. More jobs are created by investing in efficiency than
in poking more holes in the planet.
Here’s a group that’s been on the forefront of energy issues since the ‘70’s: the
Rocky Mountain Institute. The book, Natural Capitalism,
is a blueprint for a viable energy future. Make it required reading. | 
