But next year, Big Oil is likely to feel as if it's wearing one of those "kick me" signs.

Sometimes, it is tough for me to figure out which party is the more clueless about energy policy. The answer from the Republicans is to explore and drill more. The answer from many Democrats is that we just need to switch to any one of many readily available alternatives. It seems that neither side grasps that a HUGE conservation push will be required before any measure can work, and I have yet to see a high profile politician out there stumping for electrification.

A great observation RR. Telling people they need to change their lifestyles is a surefire way to lose an election.
Not necessarily.  

By 2008 the economic symptoms of the energy crisis may be severe enough to wake up the Herd and they may appreciate the honesty and "the plan" - IF a credible leader steps forward instead of a slew of useless career politicians.

Typically the first step in the "waking up" process is striking out at the presumed responsible people. It is rarely a significantly inward gaze, as is needed.
Welcome back. How did the wild ruminants of Montana fare? :)
In a low EROEI move, he got a 4x4 and 200 lbs (90 kg) of meat.

All true, but misleading.

He did not "hunt the hunters' and take from a SUV, but got an 8 point buck with an excellent shot.

Alan

Kunstler's Daily Grunt from yesterday seems relevant here:

-----------

     "Hillary Clinton had no credible opposition. She could have said anything in her commercials, and what did she do? She came out against child molestors.

If you're going to spend $29 million to get re-elected against nobody, why not raise an issue that needs to be raised? She could easily have talked about energy and global warming, and probably won by an even bigger margin."

------------

Maybe Hillary aware of but is very ignorant of the Energy problem - so she decided it's better to keep her mouth shut rather than open it and remove all doubt?

I think Hillary is aware of energy issues and GW, but speaking out against child molesters is about as non-controversial as it gets. With energy and GW there are counter-arguments to be made. Not so with child molestation.

We can't be decieved into believing senators aren't aware of energy issues and GW. We really have to make our government leaders more accountable and not just assume that since they aren't talking about these issues they must not be aware of them.

Tom A-B

Also she can get less corporate cash from those companies that oppose those ideas. Its all about the money for her. As a Democrat I will really fight against her being the nomination, right now I'm leaning to Wesley Clark, but I haven't investigated him on energy related issues more deeply. That might be an interesting post at some point, to figure out where all the presidential candidates in both parties are on these issues.
Robert.

I'm assuming that you have written or talked to your congressional representatives and others about this problem. I'd be interested in hearing  your views about Schweickert and Tester, for that matter.  My respresentatives still seem clueless about how just mouthing their support of alternative fuels is not going to get the job done.  

Schewickert of Montana seems more knowledgeable that most, but I fear he is a bit too glib about the promise of coal to diesel with respect to its co2 sequstrations potential and its impact on Montana water supply.

Boxer will be conducting hearings on global warming. I hope this will yield some light on the fact that we have to quit harping on so called alternative energy as a magic bullet.  

The basic problem, however, is that people perceive conservation and efficiency as sacrifice.  We still operate under the Bushian paradigm that the American way of life is non negotiable. This means that any move to conservation is considered unacceptable.

It would be great is you or someone like you could testify when these issues come up.  Or maybe your company wouldn't be particularly wild about that.  

 

We still operate under the Bushian paradigm that the American way of life is non negotiable.

Such a 'tude goes back to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_Doctrine

which stated that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf region

While there is plenty to blame on Bush, All ills don't lead to Him.

I'm assuming that you have written or talked to your congressional representatives and others about this problem. I'd be interested in hearing  your views about Schweickert and Tester, for that matter.  My respresentatives still seem clueless about how just mouthing their support of alternative fuels is not going to get the job done.

I have spoken/written to several of them. Most of them state their concern, but they don't show any passion for the issue.

I think Schweitzer really cares about energy issues, but I think he is really deluded about coal to liquids. That is a very capital intensive, environmentally unfriendly option (even if it would provide economic stimulus to Montana, which is a big reason he is behind it). Tester ticked me off during his campaign, because he jumped on the "Big Oil is behind all of your problems" bandwagon. One of his campaign workers came to my home, and I confronted him about it. He said "It isn't personal." I said "For me it is."