Energy Bill Notes - No Compromise

Washington Post on the Current Energy Bill (subscription required)

I don't think there is a chance that a good Energy Bill is going to go through until the Next Administration. At least, the Democrats would be fools to give Bush one that provides a bunch of money to Coal-to-Liquid or Nuclear Power. They'd be selling out the incredibly important truth, in exchange for political expediency, and we can't afford more of that right now.

As for Price Gouging, "Big Oil" can keep prices high all they want, they're just going to price themselves out of business as Alts make tremendous gains, not because of vast Government spending, but based on increasingly favorable market conditions.

It has yet to be seen what "Big Oil" will do in the runup to the '08 Election. If there hasn't been an unforseen supply disruption by then, I could see Exxon eating some of that Cash on Hand that they've been hording, in order to not only crush the competition from Alt-Energy, but to put American Energy concerns at ease in order to favor Republicans for whom action on the Current Energy Crisis is a low priority.

If the Oil Industry opts to force down their prices, then an appropriate response would be to increase Gas Taxes. Even if the Federal Government will take no action under Bush, State Governments would have very powerful incentive to respond in such a way.

As it is, Alt Energy is doing great without the US Federal Government. The Worldwide Production Capacity is growing in great leaps, and many production facilities are still under construction, there's time to put together a good bill when there's a more thoughtful, and better informed President in office.

As for The American Auto Industry, in response to the concept stated by "the proposed increase in fuel economy standards in this bill are way too extreme for consumers and the economy to handle."

I call Shenanigans, AKA Bullshit.

I fear for the future of American Autos. You guys have designed yourself into a corner, getting bigger and more wasteful on the American Dream of Limitless Oil. Your industry doesn't want the challenge of building highly efficient cars, and so you're losing the world competition for energy efficient vehicles. Why would a person in a developing world want to buy a gas guzzler? They don't have the money to throw around like us lucky Americans, but they are tomorrow's market.

The US Government must not ptotect you from your own poor decisions, and failure to create vehicles that can compete on the world market. This is not to say that the US Government should abandon you, but you, the auto industry, need to step up and demonstrate that you can develop a car that is going to be able to compete in a world where energy is scarce.

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