Jon Stewart points out that we've been at this for 40 years

[darksumomo]

Original at The Daily Show

And now, some commentary on John Stewart's segment from The Oil Drum.

Thoughts on Jon Stewart's "The Cost of Energy Independence"

Posted by Robert Rapier on June 21, 2010 - 10:28am
Topic: Policy/Politics
Tags: energy independence, energy policy, jon stewart, original [list all tags]

I have noted before that every

Comments

[juanita_dark]

Can't watch the video because I'm Canadian and lazy, but I have to say the caricature of Jimmy Carter made me LOL.

Also, whoever drew that has no idea what Obama looks like.

[uluviel]

Canadian link: http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/#clip313198

[bord_du_rasoir]

Asking people to sacrifice doesn't get you re-elected. That's why no politician has thus far come up with a solution on Social Security - the only viable solution is to cut benefits and raise taxes. No politician is brave enough to campaign on either.

Details of the execution of the program will soon be announced.

That's convenient.

Which are the largest factors separating U.S. transportation from that of Russia, Jordan, Mexico, and Malaysia? Is it the ratio of people to cars? Is it the distance the products we consume travel? Is it the stuff we consume from grocery stores, retail stores, or stuff we have shipped to our homes that travels the farthest? Is it that we work farther from our homes? Is it that we travel more outside of work? Is it that we take more road trips? Is it that we fly more? Is it that we use mass transit less? Is it that we lack mass transit infrastructure?

[squeeful]

All of the above.

[urban_stoop]

The comparison with those countries struck me as really strange, because they're all NICs/emerging economies (I'm pretty sure Jordan would be characterized as a developing country, fwiw) where households just consume less energy (I would imagine) and products that take a lot of energy to produce (like processed foods). Incidentally, an increasing problem in NICs as a whole is that people, as they are coming out of poverty, are eshewing what gives them such low consumtion numbers (eating local foods and not a lot of beef, using mass transit etc) in favor of Western/american style travel and eating habits.

Also, CONSERVATION. Hello. If Americans would learn to insulate their houses properly you'd save a TON of oil and money on AC and heating alone, and nobody would be "making sacrifices". I'm not saying that's 70% worth of oil right there, but it's a step in the right direction.

[krystle_ab]

100% agree!

and soooo cool to see a familiar face :)

[homasse]

Until the US has more viable systems of mass transit, there's just not a chance of us cutting our dependency on foreign oil any time soon.

[angi_is_altered]

Bingo!

[hinoema]

Or until non-petroleum fueled transit becomes viable- gradually, it's happening.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2281011.stm

[sunoftheskye]

So true.

[lickety_split]

Damn, I haven't been here in awhile.

[sunoftheskye]

Gerrrl, me either.

[fenris_lorsrai]

There's also the entire issue of we're looking for a magic bullet that will fix everything, thus skip doing anything. How many times have we heard the argument "but solar/wind/nuclear/wave/hydro/magic pixie dust won't provide all the energy we need

[crossfire]

Every inch of THIS.

[layweed]

Every inch centimeter of THIS.

There, fixed it for you. =X

[fenris_lorsrai]

And Obama could even do this by executive order by simply using the power of capitalism. Executive order: The executive branch of the government will no longer purchase passenger vehicles that get less than X piles per gallon. Skip screwing about with CAFE standards, specify that one of the largest buyers of new cars wants X mpg. Build it or lose the business.