Weather, Water, Energy 7-05-07

Finally, someone with power in these things admits that Iraq really is about oil. Of course, he's in Australia and their idiot PM shut him down pretty quickly, but at least some honesty is on the table. Iraq has plainly been about oil for this entire fiasco, not entirely but majorly (?), and pretending otherwise has been one of many tragic hypocrisies of the mess. Yes, it's about oil. Nations that want to get or keep wealth and "greatness" need resources, always have, always will. And the most important resources in today's economic and political infrastructure remain oil and its byproducts. That doesn't settle well with folks who don't have an imperial inclination or who understand that alternatives are possible and better, but it's defensible if certain goals and ideals are accepted. But those ideals and goals wouldn't have convinced majority of Americans to support invading Iraq when we had real terrorists we should have been dealing with, so we made sh-t up as we went along and ended up in a disaster movie. Historians will marvel at the hoops "thinkers" had to go through to rationalize that we weren't there for oil from the beginning, and this Aussie gentleman will be the first official breath of honesty they'll find in the record. Good on him. Now just resign that idiot PM's cabinet. . . . Let's see, the EU understands and can even outline the enormous negatives in biofuel production but is willing to trust that the humans who made this mess will be able to successfully monitor and restrain themselves through policy influenced by politics influenced by farmers and corporations. Good plan. . . . Meanwhile, China's admitting that its economy, the one it's unwilling to slow in the name of, you know, saving the planet, is growing so fast that it won't meet its energy efficiency targets. Even better, the fastest growth is in its most energy-using and polluting industries. It's not even pretending to wait or care for us to "help it do things a less hazardous way." Explain to me again why we're taking China's side in the "oh, poor little underdeveloped me" whine it's doing? . . . Here's a nation setting goals that might be hit, and, I'm betting, while maintaining a strong economy. Germany is shooting for 45% of its electricity coming from renewable sources by 2050. If China were serious about improving and getting Western help, it would be going to these countries and learning everything they can. That it's not is proof to me of the traditional suspicion that China will always try to be a free rider on the efforts of others. Please prove me wrong. I'd be glad to see it. . . . Too bad southern FL doesn't have much sunshine. It could be a leader in solar power if it did. . . . If farmers thought the basic grain market was volatile, just wait until they see what getting into the global energy market will do, say some surprisingly clueful economists. . . . A Christian Science Monitor op-ed acknowledges that the energy conservation we need is likely undoable without a major gasoline tax . . . and manages to criticize AL GORE for the failure of Beltway "leaders" to seriously propose it. Do Christian Scientists frequently take acid before writing columns?