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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (35972)	9/2/2005 10:14:41 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 361090

It takes imagination to lead America Welcome to the century of what follows oil or fighting over what’s left of oil The 1979 movie Americathon opens with a scene of joggers and bicyclists moving along a Los Angeles freeway. The plot is that America has run out of oil and the federal government faces bankruptcy. In addition to being very funny, Americathon’s premise contains more than a grain of truth. No one expects that particular moment to arrive soon. But the world and this nation are clearly at a turning point. Writing in The Wall Street Journal last week, Gerald F. Seib noted, “In brief, while the 20th century was the century of oil, the 21st already is unfolding as the century of whatever follows oil, or the century of fighting over what’s left of oil or both.” At the advent of a new energy era, it is sad that our nation’s leaders have so little to offer. The leadership gap is especially apparent in the face of the Iraq War. American troops are committed to a conflict that is very much about oil, but our president has offered no plan to achieve energy independence or, in Seib’s words, to move us into the century of whatever follows oil. How close are we to running out of oil? For a highly accessible analysis of that question, Peter Maass’ cover story in The New York Times Magazine Aug. 21 is a good starting point. Maass penetrated the relatively small cadre of experts who follow oil production in Saudi Arabia, the world’s most significant producer. He explains the technology and economics of withdrawing oil from wells that are largely depleted. If we are approaching a watershed moment in world history, why are our leaders so complacent? Maass notes that President Jimmy Carter raised the energy issue as “the moral equivalent of war” and found himself residing in political oblivion. Not every public official is complacent. California has taken a lead in raising automobile mileage standards. But the silence about gasoline conservation in the White House is deafening. “The energy bill signed earlier this month by President Bush does not even raise fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars,” wrote Maass. “When a crisis comes – whether in a year or two or 10 – it will be all the more painful because we will have done little or nothing to prepare for it.” Seib of the WSJ makes a similar point. He suggests that when President Bush meets with Chinese Premier Hu in September, that the two leading energy users should pool their technological efforts for the development of new fuel sources. It takes imagination to lead a great nation, and that may be what’s lacking in President Bush. It would make abundant sense to cooperate with the Chinese on energy development. It’s later than Mr. Bush thinks. dailyastorian.info