Annoyances

There have been annoyances lately...like today, the President said (roughly) that anyone who's being responsible would vote to drill in Anwar.

Okay...parsing the whole thing would take too much of my time and effort (and it's hot---dry, sure, 107°, that too) but let's just focus on one little part.

That whole responsible thing.

I think we've gotten needlessly Libertarian here...and I'm not against Libertarianism...not if you live in a completely homogenous society of say...fifty people. Then I think it's bloody brilliant and I'm all for it.

No, I mean this whole "I get to define responsibility the way I want to" thing...

REAL responsibility?

Well, that means you accept your part of the problem (you're in cahoots with Big Oil)

and you are willing and able to propose a solution (getting out from under the thumb of Big Oil and get realistic about the whole "renewable resources" vs "nonrenewable resources" thing).

If we start there, then the next reasonable argument goes something like this: 

Because we've been beholden to the interests of a bunch of gynormous corporate entities for too long and in the process we've made certain that the little guy--the small businessman or businesswoman...the entrepreneurial sprirt upon which this country was founded, if you will--we've made certain that the good people of America simply cannot get a break (because all the breaks are going to the big companies in the form of giant tax breaks, etc etc) because of all of this, I have decided to change business as usual. 

We will now put out a request for bids on the following:

• government contracts for the best retro-fit of a gasoline-powered automotive engine to a viable alternative fuel source;
• government contracts for the best retro-fit of a home from oil to solar or wind;
  
• government contracts for the best retro-fit of a home from gas to solar or wind;
  
• government contracts for the best retro-fit of an in-home water system from complete potable water to grey water for toilets and home-created grey-water for irrigation; 
  
• government contracts for the best retro-fit of a fast food chain to provide recycled bio-fuel (no using NEW corn for fuel...that's just silly--and maybe the fast food chains will use cleaner oil for cooking in if they can make a little money off of the waste product);
  
• government contracts for the best retro-fit of a manufacturing plant from a non-renewable energy source to a renewable one;
  
• and, finally, 70% one-time tax breaks to any corporation who can (a) demonstrate,  and (b) distribute the means by which any and all unwanted waste/byproducts can be reused by another company/manufacturer for a profitable purpose.

From what I understand, (necessity being the mother of invention and all) we'd see a return on those bullet points faster than we'd see a return on Anwar...not to mention the fact that Responsible Folks say the oil companies have PLENTY of offshore drilling rights they haven't exploited b/c it's STILL too expensive to do so...at $4.50 a gallon, it's STILL too expensive.

Please.

When Holly and Dawn (see upcoming Chum) can reuse Pendleton fabric to make AWESOME couture, you're trying to tell me there's NO WAY we can reuse our company byproducts SOMEhow? If Soysilk (love it!) can be made from leftovers after Tofu has been created...there HAS to be some use for EVERYthing, right?

And I know what the naysayers are saying--if everything goes Solar or Wind or whatever, then the large power utilities go under and that's an even worse economic nail in our collective coffin. 

I agree. I think they should be the ones bidding. And I think part of their contracts should include upkeep, repair, and replacement. I think there's a TON of money to be had on nothing more than yearly inspections...and power plants should ALWAYS be a backup system...

I'm just sayin'...Anwar is not the only solution. There are other--more responsible ways...

I'm putting the soapbox away now. Thanks for indulging me.