Congress: Criminally Negligent
Criminal negligence occurs when a person knowingly puts others at risk of injury by failing to take action that he or she should take. By those standards, Congress is criminally negligent for failure to act on one count – energy. We are all at risk, but beyond that, civilization (as we know it) is at risk.
The issue of energy distinguishes itself from many other current issues that face us today in two ways. First, there is no doubt that failure to act to resolve our dependence on fossil fuels will change our way of life in an unprecedented way. Second, taking action to help solve the energy problem is unquestionably within Congress’s area of responsibility.
In elementary school we learn about natural resources and how precious they are. Does anybody question that fossil fuels are in limited supply? Fossil fuels are formed when the remains of dead plants and animals are subject to the pressure of the Earth’s crust over the course of millions of years. In the course of just the past 100 years, we have burned amounts of fossil fuel that it took nature millions of years to produce. It doesn’t take a PhD in mathematics to figure out that fossil fuel is not a sustainable source of energy. Simply stated, at the rate we are going, fossil fuel will run out. That is an indisputable fact. Not even Congress can spin it otherwise.
Are there any idealists out there who believe that the “free market” will solve the energy problem? Today’s shortsighted CEOs rarely think beyond next quarter’s profit or loss. How can we reasonably expect them to step up to the plate in a big way to invest in renewable energy when those profits are years away?
The energy problem goes beyond our need to become independent of foreign oil, although that is a huge first step. But if you are one who believes that the war in Iraq is due to oil (or even if you are not), take a minute to think about how crazy the world could get if oil runs out before we have an energy source to replace it. Without energy, our whole way of life would be turned upside down. Who wants to return to the days before electricity, air conditioning, and modern transportation?
Take a look around your community. Are there enough farms to supply food locally once the trains and trucks stop running? Our farms are sophisticated well-oiled machines, pun intended. They rely on oil and electricity for machinery. Pre-industrial age style farms cannot support the world’s current population. But if things do come to that, at least we’ll be able to replace the farm machinery with an abundance of cheap labor – all of us.
If that’s not enough, consider the geopolitical side of things. The Arab nations whose entire economies depend upon oil revenue are beginning to think about how to survive in a post-oil world. It is a disgrace that a country as great as ours is dragging its feet.
What if there comes a time when we are too oil-starved to support our military. At the same time, countries like Iran still have a well-oiled air force and, presumably by that time, nuclear weapons. The price of oil will be so high that the oil producing countries can pick and choose their customers. And they will choose countries who trade with them and who do not interfere in their politics. Perhaps it will be China, whose communism will eventually turn into a democracy with a thriving economy based upon a tempered flavor of capitalism, having learned from our mistakes. The historians will write about the demise of the US as they talk today about the fall of the Roman Empire.
The energy issue has been in the news for years, but there is very little in it that is new. Just think back to the energy crisis of early 1980s. Congress has talked about energy for years, but what tangible change has Congress made?
Congress is well aware of the risk of injury to all of us if they do not act. Yet year after year they fail to act. How is this anything less than criminal negligence? On Tuesday, let’s do some House cleaning. And while we’re at it, let’s do some Senate cleaning also. Then we can take action now before it is too late.
