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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nicholas Thompson who wrote (111468)	12/24/2007 11:59:28 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 173976

Our misery is Gore crowd's happiness The Tennessean By PHIL VALENTINE Ayn Rand could not possibly have known how prophetic her novel, Atlas Shrugged, would be when it was published 50 years ago. Or, could she? This landmark piece of literature foretold a United States where an ever-intrusive and expanding government begins to smother productivity and shutter the doors of entrepreneurship. Innovators, creators and producers are driven to destroy their own works rather than turn them over to the vultures who have taken over the government. I was reminded of Rand's classic as President Bush and members of Congress recently gathered for the signing of the new energy bill. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is less about energy and more about control. The most ambitious projections by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy predict it will cut our energy consumption by a whopping 7 percent by 2030. Yet, it forces products and standards on the American public that could not be achieved in the free market. For instance, it forces automobile manufacturers to increase average fuel economy to 35 mpg by 2020. This mandate will include light trucks, which means your pickup and SUV, heretofore exempt, will now be subject to higher mileage standards. According to J.D. Power & Associates, SUVs, pickups and minivans make up about 60 percent of auto sales. Hybrids' market share is just under 3 percent. People apparently like the safety and comfort of a larger ride, all of which will be sacrificed with higher mileage standards. But it doesn't much matter what you want. The new bill also mandates a fivefold increase in biofuels like ethanol, which will continue to drive up the price of corn as energy and food interests compete. I drive a flex-fuel vehicle that uses ethanol. I'm all for it but, again, the market should decide, not the government. This so-called energy bill also bans most incandescent lightbulbs by 2012. The incandescent lightbulb is replaced — by force, not by choice — with the compact fluorescent lightbulb. Right now, the market share of these CFLs is about 6 percent, and there's a reason for that. They produce dim, dull light. Roughly 94 percent of the country doesn't want them, but that doesn't matter to our nanny-state government. We're going to use them whether we like it or not. The Associated Press recently reported Al Gore has finished the "green" modifications on his Belle Meade mansion. After all that work, he has managed to reduce his energy consumption by an anemic 11 percent. That still puts him at over 10 times the amount of monthly usage compared to the average Nashville home. Ironically, Gore uses those CFLs in his home. According to a comparison of NES bills, Al and Tipper use almost four times the power my family of five uses; yet, their home got the Green Building Council's gold certification, and mine didn't. Of course, Mr. Gore has a company set up where he can pay himself carbon offsets to clear his conscience. It seems the underlying theme of radical environmentalism is sacrifice. They genuflect at the altar of self-immolation while the rest of us celebrate having climbed to the top of the technological food chain. While we marvel at our advanced civilization, they cram into their hybrids to go lobby Congress, all the while claiming to be "progressive.'' News flash: Dimmer lights and less-safe automobiles are not progress. Ultimately, what Ayn Rand was trying to convey in Atlas Shrugged is that we have a fundamental right to be happy, if we so choose. This runs counter to today's radical environmentalists who believe one must actually be miserable to truly be content. tennessean.com