[Mb-civic] PAYING THE PRICE FOR BUSH'S RETRO ENERGY POLICY

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

PAYING THE PRICE FOR BUSH'S RETRO ENERGY POLICY

By Arianna Huffington

The new sales pitch for President Bush is that he's a forward-thinking 
visionary, right? His policies in the Middle East were, it turns out, not 
about the bloody debacle in Iraq today but about democracy spreading 
throughout the region in a glorious future. And his plan to fix Social 
Security is not at all about privatizing the jewel of the New Deal but 
simply about ensuring a safe and secure system well past 2052.
But when it comes to dealing with the many energy-related crises we're 
facing, can the Bushies really go on pretending that their policies are 
any more forward-looking than a rerun of "That '70s Show"?

Exhibit A is the president's bizarre and long-standing obsession with 
drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which just got 
Senate approval last week. I mean, how retro can you get? Instead of 
pushing to increase fuel efficiency standards that could save millions of 
barrels of oil each day and calling for a national commitment to 
investing in renewable sources of energy, he's after one more fix of 
dinosaur byproducts from one of the world's last pristine places.
Which might be understandable if making an Exxon Mobil theme park 
out of the refuge would actually reduce our dependence on foreign oil. 
But it won't. At best, there's only enough oil there to satisfy U.S. 
demand for about six months. And it won't be available for at least a 
decade--which is the only forward-looking aspect to Bush's ANWR 
dream.

The consequences of Bush's head-in-the-tundra policies are already 
all around us--starting with the record prices Americans are paying to 
gas up their cars. The national average just raced past $2.10 a gallon--
up 21 percent from last year. The U.S. remains the world's largest oil 
consumer, but with growing countries like China and India demanding 
more and more oil, and the world's refineries already close to maxed 
out, things are only going to get worse. How long will it be before filling 
stations are asking: "Cash, Credit or Home Equity Loan?"

In response to this mounting economic calamity, President Bush 
summoned all his authority as leader of the free world and, uh, well, 
sent an official complaint to OPEC ministers meeting in Iran. I'm sure it 
was very strongly worded. In any case, most experts agree that even 
OPEC can't pump enough additional oil to make a long-term 
difference.

Meanwhile, the president's old oil company pals are raking in record 
profits. Exxon Mobil, for instance, more than doubled its cash flow last 
year, ending 2004 with $23.1 billion in its bulging coffers. In fact, every 
time the price of a barrel of oil goes up a dollar, Exxon's accountants 
chalk up another $550 million in after-tax profits. Indeed, the Wall 
Street Journal reported last week that oil companies are actually 
having a hard time figuring out what to do with all that cash.
The president's outdated energy policies are also pushing us to the 
brink of an economic and ecological catastrophe brought about by 
global warming. Temperatures are climbing, sea levels are rising, 
Antarctica is thawing--and these are just the tip of the rapidly melting 
iceberg. The winter ice cap at the North Pole has shrunk 20 percent in 
the past two decades, and all that disappearing ice is going to 
reappear in the form of rising seas threatening coastal areas from New 
York to New Orleans.

Our MBA president's energy plan is designed to coddle corporations, 
of course. But the most surprising aspect of the scheme is how bad it 
has been for business (non-oil business, that is). Oh, those unintended 
consequences.

Just look at the head-on collision at General Motors, which, along with 
the rest of the industry, has enjoyed one fuel economy loophole after 
another. The company bet the farm on hulking gas-guzzlers and 
engines whose basic designs date to the 1950s. Now, with gas prices 
heading through the sunroof, demand for SUVs has tumbled--and with 
it, GM's fortunes. Despite rebates as high as $6,000, sales of models 
including the Hummer H2 have dropped by double digits. As a result, 
GM has taken a $4 billion cash flow hit and laid off thousands of 
workers--yet losses are still expected to reach $850 million in the first 
quarter of 2005 alone.

At the same time, Toyota and Honda, companies that have shown a 
commitment to higher fuel efficiency and fuel-saving hybrid technology, 
are running away with Detroit's market share. In true Neanderthal 
fashion, GM has responded to its troubles by redoubling its focus--and 
its multibillion-dollar advertising budget--on hawking the upcoming 
models of its SUVs. They just don't get it--and for that they are paying 
a heavy price. 

And our leaders in Washington--their pockets stuffed with oil, gas and 
auto-industry donations--have been willing accomplices in this financial 
fiasco. By keeping mileage standards for SUVs lower than for cars, 
allowing unconscionable fuel efficiency loopholes that exempt monster 
trucks like the Hummer H2, and giving a special tax break allowing 
write-offs up to $100,000 on luxury SUVs, they helped create an 
artificial market for gas guzzlers--and helped lead GM to the corporate 
ICU.

Bush and company call themselves free marketers, but by indulging 
Detroit they've discouraged innovation and made it much easier for 
companies like GM to slowly destroy themselves--and their workers. 
It's assisted suicide, Beltway-style.

Tom DeLay and Bill Frist should immediately call another midnight 
session of Congress to look into this. And someone needs to wake up 
President Bush before his habit of looking in the rear view mirror when 
it comes to energy policy leads us even further off the road to energy 
independence--and straight over a cliff.

© 2005 ARIANNA HUFFINGTON.


DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

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