What Dubya Learned About Energy

Don't you just love the George W. Bush manner? When he speaks to America about something really, really important, he puts on his intimate voice and teaches us what he is the last to know.

Today, for example, he passed along what he learned from his scriptwriters about energy.

In his speech to the Renewable Fuels Association, Bush let us in on a truth, "To reduce gas prices, our oil companies have got a role to play."

Gee, no kidding. Maybe you can tell us the role that the oil companies played in helping formulate our energy policy, or do those records remain secret George?

But wait, there's more:

"Congress has got to understand that these energy companies don't need unnecessary tax breaks like the write-offs of certain geological and geophysical expenditures or the use of taxpayers' monies to subsidize energy companies' research into deep water drilling."

Congress needs to understand? What, Dubya already knows this? Than why has this Texan been so kind to his oil brethen lo these many years. When has he ever held them accountable for anything? Why does he still refuse to enact a windfall profits tax to make a dent in the money these conglomerates have been pumping out of our wallets?

Better still, who knew he could pronounce geophysical?

I could go on and on about his blather about promoting fuel efficiency or how it's really important to disrupt the air quality to lower prices. Or how ethanol is God's little side effect of growing corn.

But what speaks volumes is what this man does not do. He refuses to enact meaningful policies that will force these companies that are financially raping us to return any of that money back into the system. Bush has neglected to seek out any realistic alternative energy policy but informs us we are "addicted to oil." So what does that make Bush, the world's most arrogant pusher?

To entirely obfuscate matters, Bush has agreed to stop depositing into the strategic petroleum reserve. Wow, that will free up about a third of 1% of a days supply. Imagine the savings. Then, of course, to get around the alleged disruption caused by those annoying "boutique fuels," you know, the ones that force our air to be cleaner, he'll just deregulate some more.

What I am wondering though is what happened to those promises that accompanied the invasion into Iraq? The promises that referred to how Iraq's much-coveted oil supplies would foot the bill for the excursion. Hell, it's not even putting a down payment on the mother of all embassies we are building there.

All we have to show for the power grab at oil is a deficit in the trillions, a war which has eaten up all our financial and military resources with no end in sight, less oil and much higher prices.

But Bush, Cheney and their friends are far richer than they were 6 years ago and I suppose, that's all that really matters anyway.

I guess we have all learned a valuable lesson about Globalization and Energy, Bush-style.