The power of a drug dealer comes from the dependence of his customers on the drug. The power of our oil companies and the military industrial complex comes from the dependence of the American people on oil. It is no surprise that our oilman President and his oilman Vice President are gaining their power by justifying foreign oil procurement by touting the needs of the "War on Terror." There is virtually no effort from this Administration to get off oil. There is virtually no effort from this Administration to use clean, efficient power. There is virtually no effort to combat global warming. There is virtually no effort to reduce air and water pollution. All we do is fill our addiction to oil, no matter the consequences, because we need the fix, and will pay any cost, both in money, our environment, and with American lives overseas.
In his latest budget, President Bush cut the National Renewable Energy Lab by another $10 million, even after cutting it by $20 million (or 10%) last year. He zeroed out the geothermal energy budget, despite the fact that new developments of geothermal technology is taking off in the Western United States. He has no plans for rapid market transition to alternative fuels, and hydrogen automobiles will be powered by natural gas imported from foreign countries.
These cuts in innovation are taking place as record deficits continue to balloon to elephant-size proportions. The plain and simple fact is that George W. Bush has no vision for the future except war for oil. He has no solution for China and India's oil demand except war for oil. He is like a drug dealer, asking us to quit, but setting us up to maintain our addiction, and endangering our lives in the process.
Plenty can be done on state and local levels to reduce addiction on foreign energy sources, but what is the Virginia legislature doing about this? Well for starters, rejecting Kaine's transportation proposals that curb traffic and unnecessary development while wasting time arguing over gay marriage and giving millions of dollars in new tax breaks to the wealthy by repealing the estate tax. Frankly, the priorities of the Republican Party leave America broke. The Bush Administration actually gives over $2 billion dollars each year in corporate welfare for wealthy oil & gas companies - and that's only the money we know about. That means that our President is actually REWARDING THE DEALERS WHO FEED OUR ADDICTION. And this figure does not even include the additional $70 billion Bush will ask Congress to foot for Iraq, while calling all who oppose it unpatriotic friends of the terrorists.
Granted, Bush did cut R&D for oil in the DOE budget by $60 million. But don't worry, the DOD budget increase (Bush has asked Congress for an additional $70 billion for his Iraq adventure) more than makes up for this relatively tiny cut. Meanwhile, rather than increasing research in domestic oil supplies, the DOD budget focuses on protecting oil company interests in foreign countries. The bottom line is that Bush is not doing anything to kick our "addiction" to oil, except to identify the problem. Having identified it, though, Bush and the Republicans aren't doing anything about it. The bottom line is this: America needs to get off its oil addiction, but our Dealer in Chief and his Big Oil Buddies aren't the ones to do it.