Energy Crisis

It occurred to me last night while watching the endless hurricane coverage that there was something slightly karmic about Hurricane Ike laying waste to a swath of Texas which serves as home to the oil industry, and which of course is the state of origin to our current President. The same President who fumbled the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Before Ike had even made landfall, gas prices were spiking upwards of fifty cents a gallon. I half expected the Hurricane itself to stand on that stranded oil tanker being buffeted off the coast of Galveston, Texas and declare, "Mission Accomplished!"

The 1992 election between George Herbert Walker Bush and Bill Clinton was best summed up by the phrase, "It's the economy, stupid." And my instincts tell me that this year's election should be summed up by the phrase, "It's the energy, stupid." Because the candidate who has the right energy policy can improve our nation's standing on multiple fronts. Energy diversity and energy independence will enhance our national security; stimulate new industries which will help our economy; are necessary to protect the environment and respond to global warming; and as much as we talk about releasing our nation from the tightening grip of foreign oil producing nations, we equally need to release the tightening grip of oil companies on the operations and policies of our government. And the next President's energy policy will be central to changing that dynamic.

To give a sense of how bad things have gotten, perhaps you too saw the news a couple of days ago about an Interior Department investigation of it's own Minerals Management Service (MMS) -- which issues the offshore oil drilling leases Republicans are clamoring for. The Interior Department uncovered that the government employees of this agency were frequently partying, accepting free gifts and trips, using cocaine and other drugs, and having sex with the oil company executives who were seeking the licenses they issued. And that a culture of promiscuity and ethical failures had consumed the agency. Drill, baby, drill indeed.

But I'm facing an energy crisis of a different kind at the moment. See, a good friend of mine was visiting recently and accidentally knocked over a cup of coffee on my remote control. Remember the Pepsi Syndrome? Think of this as the Starbucks Syndrome. Coffee and a remote -- good. Coffee on a remote -- not so good. The central nervous system of my multi-media existence is in meltdown. Put another way...I have to get up and go to the TV to change the channel. Let me repeat. I have to get up off the couch and walk over to the TV and push buttons on the top (or maybe it's the bottom, I forget) to adjust the volume and change the channel. And in my high definition, cable access, 700 channel universe that is painful. I don't have the energy to be walking to the TV every time I get bored with Larry King. Which means I now rarely change the channel. I live with what happens to be on. And suffer in quiet dignity. I'm watching COPS right now. In quiet dignity.

Maybe I too need a new energy policy. Maybe I too need to identify alternative sources of...uhhh...mental fuel. Or maybe I just need a really long stick that will reach the channel changer on my Sharp AQOUS.

The Better Left Unsaid "Stream-of-Consciousness" Index
Hurricane Ike...It's the Economy, Stupid...Energy Diversity...Minerals Management Service...Pepsi Syndrome...COPS