Thursday, September 04, 2008

Drill, baby, drill

I watched the GOP convention speeches last night. This part where Michael Steele enjoins Americans to "Drill Baby Drill" -- likening our thirst for cheap energy to the uncontrollable, hedonistic, libertine, self-destructive frenzy of a disco inferno -- was just freaky, but there's no denying that this gesture resonates with many many voters.



Even George W Bush said in his State of the Nation speech that America is addicted to oil. And here's T. Boone Pickens explaining why we can't drill our way out of the current (and perpetual) energy crisis.

6 comments:

Jennifer said...

That reminds me, I have a dentist appointment coming up...

You know, I wonder if these people have a similar approach to dental care. Why brush and floss every day when the dentist can just Drill! Drill! Drill!

Anonymous said...

The "drill baby drill" clenched it for me last night. I was an undecided voter until that moment. When I saw the bloodthirsty (I mean "oil-thirsty") grins on everyone's faces and realized how selfish the Republican Party is (collective stereotype, I know...), I knew there was no other choice. Despite the fact that the Obama/Biden ticket is far from perfect, it's a helluva lot better than entering into this oil-thirsty, damn-everyone-else-to-hell, we're-taking-what-we-need mentality.

Honestly, I'm very sad for our country. We have become Ugly Americans.

Gary Burkholder said...

Wow - I didn't watch the RNC last night (had the 1st CX race of the season and lots of pizza afterward). I'm sort of glad I missed it, because after seeing the 'drill bit' and McCain's speech to night, I'm not in the mood for more of the same.

Unknown said...

There are a couple of things I wanted to say on this. The first is obvious - the idea that drilling is going to solve anything is nuts. The second is that I REALLY wish everyone would stop using Pickens as THE example of an "enlightened" oilman. His only interest in wind is the fact that he's combining his proposed windfarm with a proposed water pipeline and stands to be an even more wealthy man after all the deals go through. His clear intent is to use support for the windfarm transmission lines to acquire necessary control over the land that he wants to run the water lines on.

I have felt, and continue to, that the solution to home power (the oil/gas/vehicle fuel issue is a different story and wind has 0 to do with it except as a way to charge electric cars) is the expansion of single-home based alternatives like solar and the nifty new mini turbine spheres I saw the other day. As long as we are tied to the antiquated transmission system and massive grid there will be large power plants, which means coal, nuc, and dams.

Yokota Fritz said...

I'm not thrilled about the Pickens Plan myself, but I used it because he's the type of guy who the "Drill Baby Drill" people might listen to.

Pickens himself says he's not opposed to more drilling, but at least he's realistic in saying it won't do much.

PDXK.TV said...

Here is my video mash up version of drill, baby, drill!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o0iJDA7_lY