King Canute, George W. Bush and the oil crisis

Over at the Oil Drum there is a great piece on the lack of leadership when it comes to energy, Leadership can help.

On Thursday night the President began his press conference by talking about an immediate concern of the American people, the steady increase in the price of gas. He confessed to being able to do almost nothing about it, and, most of his questions, and the resulting comments in Friday’s press, dealt with the other major issue, Social Security.

There is an interesting juxtaposition between what he said, Friday, about Social Security,"it is a President's job to address the problem" and what he said about energy "there is nothing I can do." If one goes back to President Carter, one finds clear evidence against the latter position. By a variety of means, albeit only some of which he should be given credit for, oil consumption decreased by almost 13% between 1973 and 1983.

Carter took a leadership position and people conserved. There was not a single mention of conservation in Bush's "press conference". That's a lack of leadership. As the crisis approached the administration has resisted all attempts to improve the gas mileage in automobiles. The current crisis may mark the end of General Motors and Ford who have been on the front line to battle increased mileage standards.

George W. Bush as King Canute

The energy problems of this country are not for our children to be worried about, they are here today and will not get better. Along that line I am re-reading the SAIC report on Peak Oil from which most of these numbers are taken. (And SAIC is not your typical “liberal think tank”). Much has been made of the analogy of the coming energy crisis to that of an approaching tsunami. I am not yet convinced that it is going to be that bad, at least in the short term. What I am more reminded of is the story of King Canute.

Who, you ask? Well historical memory is the curse of an English heritage. King Canute was an English King, who wanted to prove the limits of regal power. And thus he had his throne carried down to the shore, and set down at low tide. As the tide came in, he imperiously ordered it to retreat. Of course it did not, and a hasty court retreat was required. It is a lesson our present day rulers need to remember. You cannot legislate natural realities. If we are running out of oil, pretending it does not exist, or that foreign suppliers can magically create an infinite resource, is going against a natural reality that will not respond to political importuning. Further, pretending that the issue will disappear in a couple of years, as currently projected projects release additional oil, is a selective reading of the facts that will have disastrous consequences.

There is a great quote in the comments section of the above post.

"Reality is that which, when you refuse to believe in it, doesn't go away."
- Philip K Dick

But I forgot, this is an administration that refuses to believe in reality.