Al Gore gave a major speech last week on energy. I know that the Gore haters will flame this post, but Gore is breaking some important ground. And in anticipation of the criticism lets get right to it. It has been 8 years of Republican “energy policy” that has brought us to the edge of energy disaster. And what can we talk about in this post. Well lets start with the fight in Washington over CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards. Without going into all of the details of CAFE let me simplify by saying that there has been a move for many years to increase the existing CAFE standards so that auto manufacturers would be forced to increase fuel efficiency of the autos they are selling the American public. And every time that issue comes up we hear the Republican opposition (and John Dingell) state many things. They have essentially told people that cheap gasoline is an American birthright. They have said that raising CAFE standards would cost jobs and cripple American auto manufacturers. Well it appears that the Republican policy of build em big and thirsty has brought the Big Three to the brink of disaster. GM Chairman Rick Wagoner is still trying to figure out what happened. While he is thinking about it GM is burning as much as a billion dollars a month in cash. They have said that raising CAFE standards will lead to safety problems on the roads. What nonsense.
While the Republicans have told people that everything is fine in energy we as a nation are preparing for a winter where many people will not be able to afford to heat their homes. The Republican have stood in charge of the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of commerce, sending trillions overseas to buy oil, and not producing one tangible policy to reduce that dependence. The best I can figure for energy policy from the Bush Administration is going to Saudia Arabia and begging the King to pump more oil. We can do better, and we must do better. So lets talk about the Gore call in that context. It has been Gore giving clear and unambigous warnings about where we were headed. Lets talk about energy policy in this country, and the total abdication of leadership by this administration. I will try to do postings on some of the energy proposals and the political disputes that surround many of them in the weeks ahead.
Bill Manzi.com 
On a related matter, and contrary to the arguments for offshore drilling, I have to wonder exactly what the impetus is behind this country exporting a RECORD amount (1.6M barrels/day)of gas/diesel fuels to other countries while we continue to pay exorbitantly high prices at the pump.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/25518912
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Your Honor,
This a great issue to debate.
Lets look at your first mistake (in a tsunami of mistakes):
“It has been 8 years of Republican “energy policy” that has brought us to the edge of energy disaster.”
The problem is one of “supply and demand”. A substantial increase in demand has given the futures speculators an opportunity to bid up the per barrel price. The speculators have skirted regulations by moving their operations overseas. My presumption here is that you don’t think Democrats participate in overseas speculations as this would be unfair, and we all know how fair they are…e.g. George Soros, Cayman Islands speculator.
Our own evil oil companies have been unable to meet domestic demand as the congress and administration has caved in to their environmental lawyer buddies and have enacted a body of law completely removing huge areas with substantial reserve from exploration and production. (Don’t give me any grief about drilling in areas that have been approved. They are drilling in the best areas now).
Now that we have protected the Arctic for trillions of mosquitoes and kept the pristine views of our beaches for the vacationing working families along both our coasts, we find they can’t even afford to get there. Without vacationers and the destinations loose income and jobs.
As in most things as soon as the government gets involved it screws things up.
To sum it up, we cannot meet domestic demand even though we are blessed with all the energy we need because of government interference.
That body of law was enacted at, or before the Bill Clinton administration, who, by the way, signed an administrative rule also outlawing exploration in these same areas.
YOUR HONOR, WE HAVE NO ENERGY POLICY. So to blame the “Republicans” alone is just naked partisanship when both parties have shown inability to govern.
This is my position. I will work to put together a time line for exploration and drilling regulations that will show it has been in force long before the nasty Republicans screwed things up. (A summary of the effectiveness of the 2006 Democratic congress would be interesting.)
I am surprised how easily that fraud, Al Gore, has pulled the wool over your eyes. You embarrass yourself.
Jules
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Your Honor,
Update on “drilling and exploration interference and prevention legislation”
Congressional Law enacted 1982.
President H.Walker Bush enacted this legislation as White House policy in the 1990’s, and it was extended by that Republican icon Bill Clinton. Finally George W. Bush ended the Administration Policy in 2008; should have been at the beginning of his first term. Up to this point the Democrats have sided with the environmentalists and protected the potential sites from legislation repeal.
Now India and China have become large consumers of oil and our restrictive policies have lead to shortages.
We have $4 to $5 gas now. No matter what we do those prices are with us for a long time without promise of returning to the good old days of cheap gas.
The Silver lining is CAFE standards, alternative fuel conversion and a whole host of other programs will actually take place over the future years without socialist policies.
Of course people at the margins will suffer (i.e. home heating costs) because there are no political solutions except to clear the legislative decks and let the industry do it’s job, including building new refineries.
Some more next time.
Jules
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Your Honor,
Your hero, Al Gore, just finished speaking to the Daily Kos convention. This hateful organization published hate screeds against Tony Snow as he was buried.
Nice bunch of friends you have.
I post this as an example of why I dislike this hypocrit.
Jules
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http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp
Mr. Mayor,
Please open the link. I would love you to comment.
I used to be a democrat, until I grew up.
Regards,
Frank
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Your Honor,
Let’s discuss your CAFE fiction.
I do not know which country you live in, but I live in America where people are free.
You wrote, “And every time that issue (CAFE Standards) comes up we hear the Republican opposition (and John Dingell) state many things. They have essentially told people that cheap gasoline is an American birthright. They have said that raising CAFE standards would cost jobs and cripple American auto manufacturers. Well it appears that the Republican policy of build em big and thirsty has brought the Big Three to the brink of disaster.”
Now here in the land of the free, decision are made by Republicans, Democrats(SUV driving Soccer MOMs) and all other citizens and the free market system fills their demand for goods and services.
The problem you tried to lay at the feet of the Republicans is actually the fault of socialist Democrats (who with their lawyer and environmental buddies enacted a body of law (in 1982) interfering with the expansion of oil production on U.S. soil preventing the harvest and processing of huge fuel reserves in many forms (oil, gas, shale oil and coal.)
Now the Socialist Democratic party is trying to punish someone ( a Democratic policy to solve all problems they can’t throw money at).
So when they find out their “punish the speculators” doesn’t work. What do they do then?
The Dem’s gave birth to this problem and now they are in charge and in perfect position to resolve it.
Don’t hold you breath.
(sounds like Frank has followed the philosophy, “If you are 20 and not a liberal you have no heart, and if you are 40 and not a conservative you have no brains”.)
Jules
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Frank,
Gore has been criticized for his home, but much of that has been political. Gore has made his home “green”.
Gore’s home is very old and was NOT built from scratch, making it more difficult to retrofit, but he has dome substantial work.
Now Frank, you are not one of those “global warming deniers”, are you?
I think that all in all that story has been debunked to a large degree. Maybe Gore should be criticized for using to much space, but on energy he is trying to do the right thing personally. More Kool-Aid please!
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Your Honor,
I’m definitely a “man made global warming denier”.
You already know I think Gore is a hypocrite who has pulled the wool over your eyes with his rhetoric.
Now the Democratic political class is going to belabor us with idiotic regulations and burdensome taxes that will benefit no one (except the Democratic Political Class).
There is no one in congress, the administration or any of the other levels of government who understands the physics of this science fiction.
I will give Al Gore one thing, he certainly has milked this thing for millions while the Moon Bats worship at his fraudulent feet.
Someday the Nobel committee will have to apologize for giving Al Gore the peace prize.
Jules
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Mr.Mayor,
A very big mistake…CNN? Please!
Global warming, please!
You keep drinking Kool-Aid, I’ll keep drinking Margaritas and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Respectfully,
Frank Raciti
Thank you, Jules.
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Your Honor,
FYI:
A Lady Named Irena – a true story.
There recently was a death of a 98 year old lady named Irena.
During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a
Plumbing/Sewer specialist.
She had an ulterior motive…
She KNEW what the Nazi’s plans were for the Jews.
Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of her tool box she carried,
and she carried in the back of her truck a Burlap sack, (for larger kids).
She also had a dog in the back, that she trained to bark when the Nazi
soldiers let her in, and out of the ghetto.
The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the
barking covered the kids/infants noises.
During her time and course of doing this, she managed to smuggle out
and save 2500 children/infants.
She was caught, and the Nazi’s broke both her legs, and arms, and beat
her severely.
Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out, and
kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.
After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived
it, and reunited the family.
Most of course had been gassed.
Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes, or adopted.
Last year Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize….
She LOST.
. . . . . . . Al Gore won, for doing a slide show on Global Warming.
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