Do What I Say. Not What I Do!

There is a acronym called NIMBY. It stands for "Not In My BackYard". It is the code by which most environmentalists live by in this country. When we need consumable items to expand our lifestyle or survive as a society, it is the concept of NIMBY that generally overrides our needs. For example, when we need lumber, it is NIMBY and all the negatives associated with logging that environmentalists use to block logging operations in any of our "own" forests. We don't mind destroying the rest of the worlds forests as long as our forests remain intact and pristine. As a result, we wind up buying more expensive lumber from other countries like Canada. Then, those same liberals who block the logging in the first place will complain that we are losing good paying jobs, like loggers, to foreign countries. At the same time, they will have a hissy-fit over the fact that our balance of payments (our imports versus our exports) is out of control because we are importing too many goods from other countries.

NIMBY is one of the reasons that we haven't built another Nuclear Power plant in this country since the disaster of Three Mile Island. Nobody wants one of those "dangerous" power plants in "their" back yard. But, we always expect to have cheap and plentiful power for our lifestyles that doesn't pollute our (and only our) environment. For years, the environmentalists have used our court system to tie up the licensing approval for any new nuclear plants. Often, communities, themselves, will block any new licenses by establishing unreasonable and uneconomical zoning requirements for any new nuke plant, oil refineries, etc.

It is also the reason why we have shut down nearly 150 oil refineries since 1980 for environmental concerns. At the same time, we haven't built a single replacement refinery because of environmental lawsuits and zoning restrictions; even though a new plant would be substantially cleaner than any of the 180 that are now operating. Consequently, the refineries that remain in operation are close to full capacity; despite "our" growing need for gasoline and other petroleum products such as plastic, chemicals, and paints. At some point, there won't be enough refining capacity in our country to supply the petroleum products we need. When that time comes, expect those 1970-like "lines" at our gasoline stations as gasoline becomes an "unnecessarily" scarce commodity.

One of the best examples of NIMBY was when the Kennedy's, Teddy and RFK,Jr., made every attempt to block a wind energy farm in the waters off of their famous Hyannis Port family compound in Massachusetts. So much for two environmentally friendly liberals who are always pushing zero-carbon, clean, and renewable energy from a wind farm! (See Full Story). Of course, they, like many liberals, want us to "Do What They Say" and not "What They Do!"

Now, to the purpose of this blog entry...

This week the House of Representatives passed a bill that would punish the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for "not" increasing production of oil and consequently allowing the price of oil and gasoline in "America" to rise exponentially over the last six years. (See Full Story) Talk about the epitome of NIMBY! The House of Representatives believes "we" should "sue" OPEC for not increasing production when we, our own Congress, won't do the same. These are the same people that complain that we are too dependent on foreign oil. Isn't this a little like pot calling the kettle black?

Apparently, it is OK for the "rest" of the World to pollute their environments so that "WE" have cheap and plentiful fuel. We can't drill for oil in our own backyards like ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) or off the coasts of Florida and California. But, it's OK for Venezuela and the rest of South America to take the risks and drill off their coasts so "our" prices are low. This is one of the reasons that Americans are disliked by some others in the rest of the world. This is why the United States is always being accused of hegemony. We act like we are the most important peoples of the world and that the rest of the world should be indentured to our needs. We have 5 percent of the world's population but suck up 25%of all the oil in the world and aren't willing to lift a single finger to expand the world's available energy. Aren't we special!

Finally, at the same time that we give the go-ahead for producing more oil, we should begin a national initiative to move to renewable resources like hydrogen. I guarantee that the day we announce we are authorizing drilling in ANWR and the Florida and California coasts, the price of oil will start to fall.