UPDATE: Senator Cornyn agrees and plans to make this a focus of the fall campaign.
The present crisis in oil and gasoline prices may be aggravated by speculation in the futures market but the principle factor is supply and demand. China and India are industrializing, a process that will only accelerate in the next decades, and their oil consumption is rising. Alternate energy sources must be developed. Nuclear power has been blocked from expansion by a weird combination of aging 1950s era ban-the-bomb activists
President Bush is promoting the use of nuclear power plants to generate electricity. It seems a political choice. Investing in nuclear power plants can be attempted only by very large corporations, of the kind that are in his support base. They belong to a very exclusive big-money club, and there are many billions of dollars at stake. But to belong, one also has to be willing to forget Three Mile Island, to forget market economics, nuclear proliferation, radioactive waste and, in particular, to forget nuclear terrorism.
and environmentalists who would prefer that much of the world’s human population die off quietly.
We must also work to slow population growth by increasing access to voluntary family planning and reproductive health programs so that families are better able to choose the number and spacing of their children. The Sierra Club’s Global Population and Environment Program supports efforts to empower women and families through education about responsible reproductive health and natural resource use— vital components of the global goal to secure a healthier environmental future.
The Congressional Democrats seem to be determined to obstruct any attempt to increase oil production domestically in spite of possible serious consequences at the polls this fall.
“This call for drilling in areas that are protected is a hoax,” Ms. Pelosi said. “It’s an absolute hoax on the part of the Republicans and this Bush administration.”
I hope John McCain is flexible enough and quick enough to use this issue to change the dynamic of the Congressional elections. With Congress’ approval rating at 9%, the entire theme of the 2008 elections, massive defeat for Republicans, may not be inevitable.