Feudalism In America: Drilling Down On The Oil Problem

Hurricane Gustav and the decision to pick Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the Republican VP candidate have thrust the problem of high oil prices into daily Starbucks' conversations.  The prices at the pump have tripled in the last five years and Americans are fed up with the stalemate caused by social liberals.  I suggested that a barrel of oil will drop to double-digits by 2009 and the market is behaving the way I expected.  While $99/barrel of oil will be a relief, it's still double the price of its fundamental value- that's not good.

The problem isn't about finding the oil; we know where it is.  We have the money, the knowledge, and now, the motivation, to pump the dead dinosaurs out of the ground and into our tanks; we simply need to do it.

Californians are blocking offshore drilling in the Golden State- that simply must stop.  The main argument highlights the blight oil rigs cause on our coastline.  While nobody likes the sight of an oil rig on their beach, creative minds find ways to camouflage the rigs.  Island Grissom, a man-made drilling island, off the coast of Long Beach, uses interesting buildings and a plethora of palm trees tp disguise the ugly equipment.  Laurie Manny pointed out Island Grisson to me some months ago as we stood on the shore.  At first glance, the island appeared to be some sort of "government installation".  Palm trees dotted the landscape with 2-3 low-rise buildings.  When Laurie explained its purpose, I was flabbergasted.  As you can see from the picture, a little imagination can make the functional palatable.

Federal government officials block drilling in the ANWR circle from fear that we'll disrupt the ecological balance.  The thought that the US Government wouldn't allow Alaskans to harvest the minerals under their state appalls me.  Governor Sarah Palin's letter to Senator Harry Reid, pleading for a policy that promotes domestic energy independence, went largely unanswered.  She makes a compelling argument in this letter.  I'll paraphrase it for you:

We need more energy.  Energy producing countries are gaining both power and prestige in the world.  While most of these countries are monarchies, we run the risk of a reversion to the "feudal system" by ceding power to those monarchies.  I might argue that it is our responsibility, as free men and women, to compete in the natural resources game, if for no other reason than to preserve and advance the social experiment, that democracy is.

Or not. We can continue defeatist rhetoric and subordinate the interests of our nation to the rising feudal lords.  I can't stomach it.  Chalk it up to my heritage but visions of Crowell's soldiers raiding Western Ireland, for its natural resources, invade my dreams.  As foreign ownership of American assets increases, bribery and corruption will become the modern-day swords.  Assimilation and respect-begging become paper shields against those swords.

There will be oil rigs, dotting the landscape of Alaska and California, in 2040.  We can responsibly drill and control those assets today or stick our heads in the sand and cede those assets to the energy-lords tomorrow.