Dale Goodner

Sarah Palin has a flair for irony. According to her, the Gulf oil spill illustrates why we should do more drilling.  She points out athe blown out well, and spewing oil, were due, not to inept drilling or lack of contingency procedures, but were caused by “extreme greenies.”  Environmentalists, in her view, pushed oil extraction into deep Gulf waters, while safer areas, specifically the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, remain off limits due to environmental regulations. Her rhetorical question is, “Now do you get it?”

Actually there’s not much here to “get.”  Mrs. Palin is evidently trying to divert attention from her own small role in promoting environmentally risky projects and practices in preference to either safety or long term sustainable energy.  There are numerous terrestrial sites outside of ANWR that are already leased and available for drilling.  But yet the deep water sites are apparently more attractive.

This environmental disaster is on people’s minds.  The photographs in the media are horrific. It is seen by some as an opportunity to score political points.  For de-regulated corporate types and unrestrained right wing radio talk shows, it’s just another excuse to berate government (“liberals” in particular).  They even blame Democratic President Barack Obama.  Never miss a chance to smear the opposition!

But what this rightfully represents is an opportunity to re-focus Americans on a strategic question.  Why aren’t major energy companies (Exxon/ Mobile, Chevron/ Texaco, or BP) searching for clean non oil-based energy options, instead of trying to squeeze every last drop of crude from the planet?  The fundamental problem is that oil is a cheap “drug” and we have become energy dependent oil junkies.  We simply have to stop sending billions and billions of dollars to oil suppliers in unstable parts of the world where America isn’t exactly held in high regard.  Despite what Palin and others assert, we are way too addicted to get by on our own meager supplies.  This is a huge and growing threat not only to America’s national security, but to Earth’s atmosphere.

A little history… back in 1973 mostly Arab nations (OPEC) got together, motivated perhaps by the Yom Kippur War, and decided to use “the oil weapon” against allies of Israel, mainly the United States and the Netherlands.  Oil supplies were cut off, resulting in shortages, price increases, and an economic downturn.  There were long lines and lots of waiting at gas stations.  The price of oil quadrupled by 1974.  Our Achilles heal was exposed for the whole world to see.

Then something amazing happened in 1973.  There was serious thought given to conservation and alternative energy. In order to slow consumption, a national speed limit was established at 55 miles per hour on highways throughout the nation. “The 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act” (signed into law by Republican President Nixon on January 2, 1974) not only saved gas, but saved lives by lowering speeds.  There was talk of greatly raising fuel efficiency standards and downsizing cars, while seeking alternate fuels.  The looming dangers of global warming were well known in 1973.  It was an ideal time to take advantage of this political climate to eliminate our dependency on foreign oil and at the same time reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses, and other atmospheric pollutants.

The problem is the oil spigot got turned back on and we went from actual reality back to ‘economic reality.’  Oil produces far greater short term revenues for share holders than any currently known alternative source of energy.  Energy producing corporations, preoccupied with ‘this year’s’ profits, will do everything in their power to insure the oil continues to flow.  This ‘live for today’ mentality works against the very idea of sustainability. Here we are, 40 years later, driving around in gas guzzling SUV’s, trucks, and Hummers.

The incredibly effective corporate resistance to needed change has provided a lesson in politics.  As English historian and pacifist, Goldsworthy Dickinson pointed out over a century ago, “Government is everywhere to a great extent controlled by powerful minorities, with an interest distinct from that of the mass of the people.”  To this could be added… and distinct from the best interest of environmental quality.

Deregulation was unleashed during the Reagan years, “Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem.”  This famous Reagan sound bite has echoed through both Republican and Democratic administrations with corrosive effect.  The real problem is that powerful corporations have been able to corrupt the regulatory aspects of government to such a degree, that the regulatees have literally become the regulators.

Republican President, Dwight Eisenhower warned about the corrupting influence of too much corporate power. “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

Under the ANWR there is crude oil; carbon locked away from Earth’s atmosphere for hundreds of millions of years.  Conservation and alternative sources of energy would allow us to leave it undisturbed, reducing global warming and maintaining environmental health. Most of us, while not shareholders in BP, are definitely stake holders who now have to live with the results of short-sighted, profit obsessed, and barely regulated ineptitude.

Yes, Mrs. Palin, I do get it.  There’s a reason President Eisenhower made the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off limits to drilling.  There are no less than 180 species of nesting birds that converge there from 6 continents in order to nest. It is also home to countless mammals.  It’s been called the Arctic Serengeti. National Wildlife Refuges, like National Parks and Monuments, are part of America’s “best idea.”  It’s our way to pass on to future generations the beauty, integrity, and diversity of this very special landscape. As Republican President, Teddy Roosevelt said, “the ages have been at work here, and man can only mar it.”  To understand the gravity of this assertion, one need only look at the Gulf of Mexico today.