I like VDH, but I'd like to see him wean himself off his addiction to food, then I'll wean myself of my addiction to energy.
To say that we should "wean ourselves off energy" would be a stupid thing to say, and Davis doesn't say it. Like the President, he's talking about getting off our dependency on foreign oil.
IMO, they're both absolutely spot on. Will it involve sacrifice? Some, perhaps. The Greatest Generation gave up their lives. Maybe we'll have to give up our SUVs.
I agree, it's like a flashback to Jimmy Carter and his cardigans.
A more immediate remedy might be to start ignoring the enviro-weenie dunces who've been setting agendas for far too long.
While "weaning ourselves off of energy" is absurd, it would be good to develop energy production technologies not largely dependant on a part of the world where the inhabitants are followers of Mad Mo.
There is only one commentator that I respect who was strongly against the Iraq war, and he had a reasonable alternative approach of U.S. development of new energy technologies and locking down the borders, especially as regards Middle Easterners.
"It would be wonderful if we had alternatives, but we don't."
We can have alternatives if we stop surrendering to people saying no to anything.
No nuclear power plants were built for the last 20 years and zero planned until 2020 (only replacements are allowed). There is no reason why we can't safely build more. Just cut the red tape. As it stands now, no investor can sustain unlimited litigation.
Wind-power is obstructed but those who say its ugly. But there are places in this huge country that can very much benefit from wind-power. Same for solar power: even with the today technology there are places that can benefit from it.
See an excellent article by Mac Johnson: America's Energy Policy: Obstruct Supply, Marvel at Price: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1567992/posts
The US alone in all the wide world retained the capability to launch a second Manhattan project focussing exclusively on alternative energy sources etc with a fair chance of success. This should've started in 2002 if not earlier, IMHO. The fact that it hasn't is not great news. Whether its VDH mouthing these boring facts of life or someone else, how does it matter?
The Europeans and Canadians have gotten so addicted to their welfare state that it doesn't matter to them that their system is unsustainable and will collapse in a few generations. Doing something about it now would entail harm to one's current quality of life, wouldn't it? The same can be said about our social security problem. If its not broken right now, and fixing it now on is going to be painful, postpone it indefinitely and applaud when the Prez mentions reform is stalled, eh?