Sponsored Content
« Breaking: Yahoo Once Again Asserts It's Not Selling Out to Microsoft | Main | Punked: School Teachers Tell High School Students That Several of Their Classmates Were Killed in Horrific Car Accidents... But They Weren't »
June 12, 2008

VDH: The Moral Case for Drilling

He sounds so much better when he says it.

The wealthier and better-educated seem less concerned about gas prices.

From my informal conversations, I'd go even further: The wealthy, especially political liberals, also like that high-priced gas translates into less burning of fossil fuels by others and will help accelerate research into alternative energies.

But what these elites don't seem to realize is that the energy policies they advocate are paralyzing almost everyone else - and that the truly ethical and environmental solution would require embracing positions long considered anathema to traditional liberalism.

The debate in Congress over more refineries and nuclear-power plants; drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off our coasts; and developing oil shale, tar sands and liquid coal has been a predictable soap opera: Grasping Republicans supposedly wish to enrich energy companies, while idealistic Democrats want only to protect the environment. But those stances, hostaed in the days of $1.50-a-gallon gas, should be revisited in light of different moral considerations.

One is fairness to the poor and middle class. Like it or not, radical environmentalism appeals to an elite not all that worried when gas prices rise or electricity rates go up - since fossil-energy use goes down.

But a paradox is that most environmentalists think of themselves as egalitarians. So, instead of objecting to the view of a derrick from the California hills above the Santa Barbara coast, shouldn't a liberal estate owner instead console himself that the offshore pumping will help a nearby farm worker or carpenter get to work without going broke?

Obviously.

But that argument will cut no ice. The liberal mindset has difficulty dealing in anything other than gauzy feel-good abstractions. As has been snarked, liberals love "the masses," but tend to hate actual people.

In this case, they love "the masses" and will demonstrate their love by saving the earth for them, despite the fact that actual people are hurting.

Hey, maybe all those poor and working class people will one day take a trip to the scenic wasteland of ANRW's shit-ice coastal plain, and they'll thank liberals for keeping the eyesore of a single 2000 acre (out of 19 million acres) oil field out of their eyeline.

And besides, they have a vested interest in the economy grinding to a violent halt in time for the 2008 elections. They know they can only benefit from a full-blown recession, and that no one will ever question them about engineering just that.

Via Hot Air's headlines.


digg this
posted by Ace at 03:53 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
rhennigantx: "Happy Fricking Friday ..."

rhennigantx: "165 Texting is just a fad. It'll never catch on. ..."

Grumpy and Recalcitrant: "G'luck with Friday, everyone. ..."

Mister Scott (Formerly GWS): "Missed it by a pico second. ..."

Mister Scott (Formerly GWS): "first. ..."

REDACTED: "yo ..."

Lost In Space: "What's odd about the 'sandbag' thing: Wouldn't it ..."

Keezen: "Fall Gate. Fbi and doj rush in to cover up what yo ..."

ShainS -- Oppression Scientist and Your AI Interpreter [/b][/i][/s][/u]: "As the article notes, the timing of Irwin's abrupt ..."

Geezer : "Texting is just a fad. It'll never catch on. ..."

Divide by Zero [/i]: " Their Satanic Majesties Request -- 1967 The Roll ..."

bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door : "162 Futurebiotecs, made in NY, sold through Walmar ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64