trying to make sense of it all

Robert Bryce wrote the "Gusher of Lies" I've been posting about. I searched for a rebuttal to his arguments and this came up so thought I'd share it. I'd like to see them debate:

http://www.cleantechblog.com/2010/04/robert-boyces-5-myths-show-ignorance.html

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This book is captivating. He's not really pushing much of an agenda. Mostly laying out the problems and the context (so far at least). I'm on chapter 3, "The False Promises of Energy Independence".

I'm going to quote this paragraph because it makes sense at the moment. Hopefully not violating fair use.

"Americans forget that the U.S. is the only country on the planet in which individuals own mineral rights. That ownership has played a key role in the development of the middle class while restraining the growth of government. The repression and thievery in many petrostates occur because the mineral rights are controlled by the kleptocrats, not the people. If the U.S. wants real reform in oil-producing countries, it should be promoting property rights, human rights, and mineral rights. It should be advocating for civil justice systems and the rule of law. Those factors are far more important determinants of the disposition of oil wealth than commodities prices. If (Thomas) Friedman and his cohorts are serious about advocating for reform in oil-producing countries, they should be promoting transparency and advocating efforts to fight corruption, not obsessing bout prices."
 

Robert Bryce, Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence, Chapter 3.

It's been a while since I've thought that we could snap our fingers and use only renewable sources if it wasn't for greed. In lieu of that, I've looked to energy independence (drill here while we develop better solutions) for security and economic reasons. This  book is definitely challenging me, which is good.

Like I said, he doesn't seem to be pushing an agenda too much in general, but if he has one, the above is part of it. He lists a couple of resources:

Publish What You Pay (PWYP)

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

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I just started Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusion of Energy Independence by Robert Bryce. He's more recently written Power Hungry: The Myths of "Green" Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future, but they had this one (Gusher) at the library.

It's stridently non-partisan, bashing both liberal and conservative approaches and rhetoric. The first thing that  got my attention was Appendix A, U.S. Imports of Strategic Mineral Commodities, Their Uses, and Key Suppliers, which shows that, if we expand our concern from energy to minerals, for many of them we are more dependent on other countries than we are for oil.Granted, most of our other dependencies are not as tied up in the Middle East, but they are still entanglements.

Anyway, I may post again once I've read it. I've already found myself on both sides of his persectives. Thought provoking anyway, and I do agree we need to get realistic about our energy future, without freaking out.

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Who is the party of "no"? We need to tap domestic resources while we figure out the alternatives. Other nations aren't so prissy about the whole thing.

video of Rachel's "presidential speech" below the fold.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Mark Levin has been asking "Is it possible to be too conservative?". He continues (I'm paraphrasing, to say the least) asking how you can be too much in favor of liberty, too much in favor of limited government, too much in  favor of the constitution, bill of rights, amendment process, balance of powers, national, state, local, and personal sovereignty. No. I don't think you can when defined as such.

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The Heath Care Bill hasn't even been repealed, I mean, implemented, and we still have no time to discuss it:

Oil spill:

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I picked up a Motorola Droid, which I can take back within 30 days. Not sure what I'll do. I could say the monthly charge is outrageous, but that wouldn't be true. It's more about the value I get back.

For example, I justify ~$40 a month for internet as follows: I can remote in to my work  computer if most anything comes up plus the convenience of accessing the internet at home.

If I didn't have a computer-related job, I still would consider it a pretty high priority. If I couldn't afford it, I would at least save up for a laptop. Lots of wifi hotspots. The internet is just awesome. Beyond the social, which is cool, it's a resource for information.

So jusdtifying the Droid is trickier, as I already have internet access

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