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1 - Global warming
2 - Dependence on
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4 - Pollution from non-
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Bush-Cheney: deciders to beggars
This entry was posted on 3/12/2008 11:12 PM and is filed under OIL.
When, according to the ABC News article - Bush Asks Saudi King to Open Oil Spigots, our President publicly asks Saudi Arabia's oil minister to increase OPEC oil output, that's asking. When he's told no and then asks the King privately, that's begging. Excerpt from the article:
"One hour after his plea for more Saudi oil was publicly rejected by the kingdom's oil minister, President Bush made a private visit to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to again ask him to open the spigots." (he got a second 'no')
It's a sad (and criminal) story - especially given the lives lost in this Iraq War.
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A) In 1999, then Haliburton CEO Dick Cheney stated:
By some estimates, there will be an average of two-percent annual growth in global oil demand over the years ahead, along with, conservatively, a three-percent natural decline in production from existing reserves. That means by 2010 we will need an additional 50 million barrels per day.
(source: www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.com)
Take-away: In 1999, based on increasing demand and diminishing reserves, Dick Cheney was fully aware of the coming global oil crisis.
Fact-check: According to DOE's Energy Information Administration -
- Total World Oil Demand increased 6.5% between 2003 and 2006.
- Total World Field Production remained right around 83 million barrels per day between 2004 and 2007 (after decades of consistent increases). The 'natural decline' has not yet started; we may be at the peak.
B ) 9/11 - an opportunity
Why did the Bush Administration make 935 false statements, mostly regarding non-existent weapons of mass destruction and supposed connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda?
Video - Bush Administration's 935 Lies to Iraq War Part 1 of 3
Answer: Oil.
C) Unacceptable, Chairman Greenspan
"....the removal of Saddam Hussein had been 'essential' to secure world oil supplies, a point he emphasized to the White House in private conversations before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Greenspan said disruption of even 3 to 4 million barrels a day could translate into oil prices as high as $120 a barrel -- far above even the recent highs of $80 set last week -- and the loss of anything more would mean "chaos" to the global economy."
Take-away: Like President Bush and Vice President Cheney really needed any more encouragement.
D) The costs of the Iraq War to date:
- coalition soldiers lives (as of today, 4,291 including 3,984 Americans);
- reported Iraqi civilian deaths (depending on your source either over 600,000 (New York Times article) or 81,964 (iraqbodycount.net));
- loss of limbs and other wounds (physical and mental);
- dollars (over $502 billion and climbing).
E) Bingo?? Iraq: Cabinet Gives Green Light to Oil Deals from www.priceofoil.org. Excerpt:
Iraq’s cabinet has given the green light to the Oil Ministry to sign agreements with international oil companies to help increase the nation’s crude output. The two-year deals, known as technical support agreements, or TSAs, are designed to develop five producing fields to add 500,000 barrels per day to the country’s current 2.4 million barrels per day output.
The companies that are getting the oil deals - Royal Dutch Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and Chevron Corp.
F) Bingo?? No, Bush and Cheney haven't accomplished their goal. They were last seen begging for oil.
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Very sad.
It's easy to criticize, but what is the solution to our underlying problem of being addicted to a rapidly dwindling resource?
Enact a phased-in, federal tax shift from income to non-renewable energy so we:
- start paying the external costs of our energy use at the time we use it;
- provide a REAL incentive for conservation;
- provide a REAL stimulus for renewable energy - entire tiers of renewable projects will become economically viable as energy from fossil fuels and nuclear power become more expensive. Will create GREEN JOBS, and technologies and products for domestic use and export.
++ We started this war, but we still have not addressed the underlying problem. ++
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P.S. - as most of you know, oil closed above $110 per barrel today - a new record.
   
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