Apr. 28, 2006 - 20:19 MDT

A NEW PHRASE ?

Seems as if politicians of both persuasions are trying to have things both ways now - - or perhaps it has always been this way. Ted Kennedy is one I am thinking of now. In Vincent Carrols "On Point" column this morning he has a column titled:

NIMBYS ON WIND POWER

QUOTE: "Major drilling for oil and natual gas on the outer continental shelf is banned along all but a small stretch of America's coast -- an absurd policy given the vast amout of fuel that could be extracted. according to the Interior Department."

"Now Congress is facing a test over whether the same self-destructive, not-in-my-backyard policy will apply to wind power as well, thanks to Sen. Ted Kennedy."

"Kennedy has long opposed a plan for what The Boston Globe describes as a "130 turbine, 24 square mile cluster of windmills . . . . about 8 miles from Kennedy's home in Hyannis Port." So Kennedy convinced a cabal of Senate colleagues to insert a provision in a Coast Guard bill that Gov. Mitt Romney , another wind farm opponent, the power to veto it, even if the project clears all other hurdles."

"Finally, however, this brazen act of hypocrisy (Kennedy is a noisy supporter of renewable energy) has provoked stiffening resistance, with the House even delaying a vote on the measure in order to give opponents more time to marshal forces."

"In response, Kennedy wasted no time in resorting to his stock in trade -- demagoguery -- denouncing a "wealthy developer" for trying to "ride roughshod" over his state (what would an "impoverished developer" look like, one wonders).

"But with talk of renewables all the rage, a majority in Congress may be driven by sheer embarrassment to reject an attempt to block what would be the largest use of offshore wind power on Earth."

"The wonder is that Congress isn't equally embarrassed by the moratorium on drilling on the outer continental shelf, where estimated reserves of oil and gas are many times the annual national usage of each fuel. Drilling rigs miles off the coast are not even visible, whereas the cape Wind project will amount to a tiny bump on the horiazon for Hyannis Port millionaires; sensible policy would exploit both energy sources."

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Vincent Carroll makes too much sense for our administration and bought pols to listen to.

And Bush seems to be pushing the opening of the far-north oil reserve to drilling --- damn the consequences. However, it seems to this ignorant man here, that if the outer continental shelf was opened up to drilling --- and taking precautions to avoid interfering with shipping that humongus amounts of oil could be obtained. And for the renewable hungry, huge installations off off-shore windmills certainly would be apropos as well, as long as they are firmly in place and hurricane proof.

Plans to increase taxes on the oil companies ? ? ? ? hee, hee, hee, if taken by one hand of the government, the perks offered by the other hand will be immense -- according to my way of thinking, or there will be enough loopholes built in any legislation that the companies will get off Scott-free Tax Free.

Although my wife is the pilot and captain of our VUE, better known as Gas Guzzler De Luxe, my own personal conviction is that exceedingly small cars should be made mandatory, with special lanes for big rigs only. Draconian ? Perhaps, but on the other hand why spend extra gallons of gas just to enable a person to use heavy machinery to haul just one body ?

Of course I once rode a motorcycle hither and yon, except in the winter and then used a light car to go back and forth on necessary errands such as earning a living. Even then I appreciated the small amount of gas I used to get from all my point As to points Bs Cs & Ds.

So, are Congress namby-pambys going to be Nimby-Pimbys to coin A NEW PHRASE ? . . . . . . . . . . . .

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