Wednesday, February 23, 2005

 

Big Oil To Bush: We Don't Want ANWR Any More

From the New York Times, by way of TruthOut:

Big Oil Steps Aside in Battle over Arctic

By Jeff Gerth The New York Times Monday 21 February 2005 Washington - George W. Bush first proposed drilling for oil in a small part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska in 2000, after oil industry experts helped his presidential campaign develop an energy plan. Five years later, he is pushing the proposal again, saying the nation urgently needs to increase domestic production. But if Mr. Bush's drilling plan passes in Congress after what is expected to be a fierce fight, it may prove to be a triumph of politics over geology. Once allied, the administration and the oil industry are now far apart on the issue. The major oil companies are largely uninterested in drilling in the refuge, skeptical about the potential there. Even the plan's most optimistic backers agree that any oil from the refuge would meet only a tiny fraction of America's needs.

So Bush wants to drill into ANWR -- even though his oil-company buddies now say he shouldn't. And he wants to run up over $10 trillion of new debt so he can destroy Social Security by claiming to "save" it via privatization -- even though when he last tried this stunt as a candidate in 2000, it cut his numbers in retiree-rich Florida so badly that Jeb almost wasn't able to steal the state for him. And he invaded Iraq even though every non-PNAC (and therefore non-Chalabi-duped) military and diplomatic expert was telling him not to do it. I think I see a pattern here.


# posted by Phoenix Woman @ 2/23/2005 10:00:00 PM
Comments:
The oil companies may be planting a story. They may be telling Bush one thing and Gerth another.

I mean look at the byline. Gerth.

Alice Marshall
GOTV
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 2/24/2005 07:20:00 AM
 
True. Gerth is about as trustworthy as Chalabi himself.

But really, ANWR's reserves a) would take years to hit the market, and b) would all wind up being sold to China or Japan, and thus wouldn't do diddly to ease America's current energy crunch.
# posted by Blogger Phoenix Woman : 2/24/2005 11:47:00 AM
 
I agree with you that there is not a good argument for drilling in ANWR based on energy needs. I'll note in passing that raising CAFE standards to 35 mpg, would make up for anything we could get out of drilling in Alaska.

Besides money there may be an ideological factor: the Bushco guys seem bent on undoing anything progessive for the last 70 years. I think it's a kind of "knock this chip off my shoulder" mentality.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 2/26/2005 10:55:00 AM
 
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