
 |
|
May 24, 2013
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
May 3,0 2008
/ 25 Iyar 5768
Oil Woes Left and Right
By
Mona Charen
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
So much for the idea that Bush went to war for cheap oil. Yes, I know, they're now imagining that high gas prices are actually lining the pockets of the president's cronies at Exxon and Sunoco. But this is not an argument advanced by grownups.
I cannot pretend to plumb the intricacies of oil prices. I gather that the current high prices are attributable to a number of factors including, in no particular order: the decline of the dollar, high demand, and OPEC. But it does appear to me that wherever you look along the political spectrum, a lack of sobr
iety on this subject reigns.
Rising oil prices delight the left. They serve to make the current occupant of the White House even less popular than he already was. But more importantly, they encourage the most authoritarian impulses among those who yearn to punish Americans for their wasteful ways. And let's not forget the Congressional Democrats, who invite oil company executives to Capitol Hill for target practice.
Some conservatives, in response, adopt an unbecoming, sometimes juvenile truculence. A group called Grassfire.org is urging Americans to "waste as much energy as possible" on June 12 and recommends "going for a drive" and "leaving a few lights on."
Can we not have a degree of moderation on this subject? We are heading into the summer months, a time when millions of American offices, homes, restaurants, and stores will be air-conditioned to suit the tastes of polar bears and penguins. Is it not a little crazy to have to don a sweater to go indoors when the outside temperature is 95? If everyone chose to be cool instead of freezing indoors this summer, we might more than compensate for the higher price of gasoline.
Since when did conservatives decide that they love waste? There are thousands of energy-saving ideas in circulation that conservatives as well as liberals can embrace. Smaller cars and more trains are just one answer. The Department of Energy has a whole page of suggestions (though for some reason they neglected to include "Eliminate Department of Energy," which would probably save a bundle). Lots of tips are simple and commonsensical. For example: lower the thermostat on your hot water heater (and wrap it in insulation), set your computer to "sleep" when not in use, turn off lights and televisions in rooms you are not using, install weatherstripping under doors, and wash clothes in warm instead of hot water.
I was recently in the Frankfurt airport and noticed that the escalators have motion sensors, i.e., they run only when necessary. Eureka! Lights in stairwells and bathrooms in many other countries are set on timers. Apparently, keeping your car serviced and your tires properly inflated can save 3 to 6 percent on gas mileage. And driving at or under the speed limit while refraining from aggressive acceleration and braking saves even more.
Conservatives are right to stress the virtues of non-carbon-emitting nuclear power, and liberals have strenuously opposed it for reasons that are 90 percent emotional and 10 percent rational. But why should we scorn solar? It cannot replace oil and gas, that's clear. But particularly for the South and Southwest regions of the U.S. that are drenched in sunshine most of the year, solar makes excellent sense as a supplement to fossil fuels. Why not at least use it to heat water as many other countries do?
All of these energy-saving measures make sense even if you are unconvinced (as I am) that the world trembles on the brink of a human-caused climate catastrophe. Just to deprive OPEC of a few of our dollars would justify any number of conservation efforts to say nothing of drilling in the 1 percent of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that contains oil (perhaps, say some estimates, more than Prudhoe Bay). Those pictures we've all seen of moose and caribou against a backdrop of verdant mountains are a fraud. The coastal plain, where drilling is proposed, is flat, barren, and characterized by unforgiving permafrost.
Finally, Al Gore and Barbra Streisand could give up their private airplanes and fly first class, but one doesn't wish to overreach.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment on JWR contributor Mona Charen's column by clicking here.
Mona Charen Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|