ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { height: 69px; } h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style7 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140" class="style6"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" class="style6"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Obama Bashes Fossil Fuels</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright May 26, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style7"> M</span>aking political hay out of the Gulf s oil spill the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history President Barack Obama urged the nation to consider alternative energy.  With increased risks, the increased costs it gives you a sense of where we re going, said Barack at a solar panel plant in Freemont, Calif.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We re not going to be able to sustain this kind of fossil fuel use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>This planet can t sustain it, apparently blaming the Gulf calamity on the nation s insatiable need for oil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Obama threw his support last March behind future plans for offshore oil drilling, he hadn t considered the environmental risks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If nothing else, the Gulf s deepwater geyser demonstrates in the most glaring terms the inconsistency of Obama s arguments:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The planet is literally awash in oil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Arguments for alternatives fuels largely stem from spurious estimates about the end of the fossil fuel supply.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Environmental risks to deepwater drilling are nothing new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whatever happened April 20 with British Petroleum s ill-fated oil platform, the offshore oil industry must redouble efforts to create better failsafe mechanisms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Barack talks about the planet not sustaining fossil fuel use, he s confusing energy supplies with environmental safety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>BP s problems in the Gulf stem not from supply shortages but from too much expediency, not enough safeguards and too few contingency plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While there s nothing wrong with promoting alternative energy, there s something very wrong with blaming the fossil fuel industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No past predictions over the last 50 years by the most reputable experts about the end of the fossil fuel supply have proved accurate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Based on past studies from the nation s most prestigious research institutions, the world should have run out of oil.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Humankind s major advance took a giant leap when Canadian physician Abraham Gesner figured out the middle 19th century how to distill fuels from coal and petroleum for internal combustion engines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Refined coal and petroleum fueled the industrial revolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bashing fossil fuels does nothing to deal with today s crisis in the Gulf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While everyone s frustrated with today s disaster, Obama needs to retool his message to appropriately address the problem of unsafe deepwater oil drilling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With over 4,000 oil rigs in the Gulf, British Petroleum got unlucky when a methane gas exploded in the pipes April 20, killing 11 workers and causing the platform to sink two days later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whatever failsafe mechanisms were in place, they weren t enough to stop the high-pressure leak one mile below sea level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Working a mile below the surface with remote-controlled submersibles has been a living nightmare.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Oil has been spewing at a rate of at least five thousand barrels or over 40,000 gallons a day, blanketing the Gulf s pristine marine habitat, home to a $2 billion seafood industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>BP hopes to begin plugging the leak May 26 with its risky  top-kill procedure where engineers hope to plug the leak with 50,000 gallons of mud and concrete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> If it s successful and there s no guarantees it should greatly reduce or eliminate the flow of oil, said Obama, pointing out  there are other approaches that may be viable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>BP already tried and failed May 7 to cap the well with a three-story high concrete and steel dome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Public patience is growing thin for the Gulf oil disaster, hurting the president s already fragile approval ratings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since the oil disaster, Barack has been forced to rethink offshore oil drilling plans along the oil rich East Gulf, East Coast and off the northern Alaskan coast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Recent reversals of fortune have been costly to Barack s aggregate approval ratings, now hovering around 47%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Given the high unemployment and sluggish economy, economic meltdown in Europe, new tensions on the Korean Peninsula and now the seemingly unending Gulf oil disaster, it s not time for Barack to start bashing the oil industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Alternative fuels won t drive the mighty engine of the U.S. economy in the foreseeable future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Instead of pointing fingers, the Gulf oil disaster should give offshore oil companies reason to pause, reevaluating current safety precautions to avoid another mishap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Collaborating with the best offshore drilling experts, BP will eventually find the right fix, plugging the underwater geyser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>For profit oil companies must keep in mind their first priority is Mother Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>There s simply no excuse for not having good emergency systems and plans.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Using the Gulf oil disaster to sell alternative energy is a cynical manipulation of a most unfortunate crisis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Developing alternative fuels has nothing to do with the current crisis, requiring offshore drilling companies to take a hard look at current industry standards and safeguards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Existing oil rigs must be carefully inspected and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>retrofitted to avoid future mishaps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Energy alternatives have their place but they can t replace fossil fuels for efficiency and cost effectiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Before the president commits himself to cap-and-trade or signing on to a new climate change pact, he must appreciate the true value of fossil fuels to U.S. industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No alternative fuel yet can drive the nation s internal combustion engines better than fossil fuels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bashing fossil fuels, exploration companies or the oil industry does nothing to fix the current problem or make the industry safer in the future.</p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>