When in doubt, run the clock outon OCS drilling and shale oil. Three more weeks is all we need.

Certainly don't accept any bill that places the Pacific Ocean off-limits, or significant parts of the Gulf—or large stretches of the Atlantic, either. Fifty miles from shore (any shore), BTW, is too far; it's several times what's needed to preserve the aesthetic appeal of our beaches.

And don't vote on anything that places ANWR off-limits long-term in any irrevocable way. We can start with the OCS and Wyoming, but I left my heart in the bleak tundra near Prudhoe Bay.

Meanwhile, I want all the other goodies: nuclear power, wind, geothermal, ethanol and methanol. Conservation. Importing of sugar-beet ethanol from Brazil. Superior production of methanol from non-food sources, such as switch-grass and algae. And immediate transfer of our best ethanol-makin' recipes to underdeveloped countries, where it might help them to grow nonedible material that can be made into alcohol-based fuels.

But not at the expense of developing petroleum-based sources to bridge the gap, while we figure out what our best sources of liquid fuel and electricity will be in the future, and how to keep optimizing car batteries for hybrids (and expanding the range for plug-ins).

So don't take a bunch of money away from the oil companies; I want them to build rigs. Lots of rigs. And pipelines. And refineries.

And of course we need flex-fuel vehicles, Joy of Joy's Desiring, that will accept gasoline, ethanol, or methanol.

This is going to take a while; don't get talked into half-measures by the Gang of Ten/Gang of 14.

They'll bargain—they will if they've been looking at the polls. If McCain and Palin have any coattails at all—and they continue to push energy in their speeches—the Democrats will get reasonable in a hurry.

"Drill, Baby—Drill."

Otherwise, let the government shut down. Hey--what have they done for us, lately?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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