The Irony of the “No Blood for Oil” Movement
With a diminishing reliance upon imported fossil fuel, the military costs associated with ensuring a steady supply of it also diminishes. Unforeseen consequences of laws passed by spineless politicians in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were the direct end results of the dangerous reliance on foreign oil. Not unlike what we see today, to keep their legislative seats, the laws passed satisfied naive, ill-informed special interest groups. And, as in a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Well Intentioned; Dangerously Naive
In the 70’s and 80’s, ill-informed special interest groups, using highly emotional yet specious arguments, railed against nuclear power plants. Nuclear plants produce less toxic waste in a year than coal plants produce in an hour. Investments in future plants are all but dead. Ironically, no deaths or illnesses attributed to nuclear energy in the US…
Concurrently, ill-informed, self-righteous, ‘environmental’ special interest groups, using highly emotional yet specious arguments, railed against oil drilling (“NOT IN MY BACKYARD!”) A dangerous reliance on foreign oil, primarily from OPEC and more specifically the Middle East, resulted. This created enormous wealth, held primarily by ruling families that were and are akin to the Mafia. To keep their wealth and power, these families paid off radical groups which ultimately morphed into terrorist organizations. Daily we see the result of that…
The Result: “Blood for Oil”
A perilous reliance on foreign oil by the US resulted from these unintended and unforeseen consequences (by environmentalists.) Like it or not, oil is the blood that courses through the veins of the US economy. Count on this remaining so for decades, regardless of what the delusional Green New Dealers espouse…
This reliance on foreign oil, controlled by what are essentially mob families, necessitated a dramatic increase in military presence in the Middle East to ensure a steady supply of blood for continuous infusion into the US economic veins. And, as inevitable, actual human blood spilled to ensure this continuous supply of oil. The Left’s rallying cry became, “NO BLOOD FOR OIL!” And this, while heating their homes with oil, driving with oil derivatives and using petroleum-based products. Of course the irony and hypocrisy is lost on them…
Bring Back Real Green Energy
It’s probably safe to say that everyone would like to shift reliance on fossil fuels to green energy. However, the notion of a complete reliance on solar, wind and hydro power, as espoused by the Green New Deal activists, is absurd. Beyond the cost (that makes it infeasible in its current maturity) is the inability to control the climate and nature; wind and solar power are not a constant, but highly variable and therefore unreliable. And, BTW, in the late 70’s, I worked my way through college making solar panels for a subsidiary of EXXON. 40 years later and neither the technology nor the economics for solar makes it practical…
There are many beneficial consequences of increased US oil production. It lessens the dependency on oil supplied by questionable regimes. The need for military assets deployed to the Middle East decreases: no more “Blood for Oil.” There is also a tremendous, beneficial effect on the US economy. But most importantly, there is for breathing room until green energy becomes technically feasible and economically cost-effective.
Increase oil production. Increase investments in (green) nuclear energy. Decrease dependence on foreign energy.