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Political spins blurring energy realities
 When it comes to the raging national debate over energy policy, reality is often in the eye of the beholder.President Bush declares that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve will reduce the price we pay at the pump without threatening endangered Alaskan wildlife. Democrats say drilling under the Arctic tundra will have no impact on gasoline prices for at least a decade -- if ever -- and risks environmental catastrophe for what would be nothing more than a few drops in the proverbial bucket of world oil supplies. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., declares that an excess-profits tax on American oil companies would recoup some of the unconscionable profits obtained through gouging consumers at the pump. Republicans respond that a replay of the ill-conceived 1980 windfall profits tax would cost Americans jobs and shift even more energy production overseas. The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., a one-time Harvard professor, famously remarked that everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts. However, political debate in America has become so polarized that it is often difficult to cut through the rhetorical clutter to separate fact from fiction, spin from reality. 'We may accent different facts and statistics,' said Sen. John Cornyn, 'but it's undeniable that unless we increase our oil supply, we are stuck with high gas prices indefinitely.' To which Sen. Chuck Shumer, D-N.Y., has his own set of facts. 'Even as someone who supported targeted oil drilling in the East Gulf (of Mexico),' he said, 'I know you can't drill your way out of the problem.'
Posted by: Fred 2008-07-07 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=243545 |