Yikes, gas prices jump! New article by Kunstler

[pstans]

James Howard Kunstler wrote a new article for his website. It had some interesting points about the jump in oil prices and what democrats could be doing about it. The article can be found at http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary13.html.

Here is a quote from the article:
"Somebody ought to bring this to the Democrat's attention. America has a problem bigger than social security, or the price of prescription drugs, or gay marriage. America is heading into a situation in which it will no longer have an economy. The Republicans at least have an excuse for their willful blindness -- they've already taken the position that the life of extreme car-dependency and everything it implies is not negotiable. They are committed to defending that position, no matter how foolish it may be.

The Republicans will certainly be disgraced by the coming vicissitudes that they allowed the nation to sleepwalk into. But the Democrats may have less credibility in the future because they were not obligated to defend a foolish status quo, and they did anyway.

I wonder if Howard Dean ever thinks about these things."

[maxsolomon]

1. 2 words to beat the repukes:

energy independence.

pulls in the "green nazis" (like myself) & the pat buchanan isolationists who want to tell the arabs to fuck off (i have sympathies there, too). if we don't need their oil, then they're like the rest of the planet, such as sub-saharan africa: dead to us.

the dems need to start talking about it now before bush co-opts the issue with more "hydrogen economy on mars" BS.

[Old and In the Way]

2. This is exactly the point that Kerry should have pounded last year.

He should have laid out a contrasting vision of the future that made alt/renewable energy as the centerpiece of his campaign. This would necessarily lead to a revolutionary change in our thinking about transportation, cities, public transportation, environment. It'd also address job creation and expose the achilles heal of basing our energy policy/economy on oil from the ME. Until we dial in the $400BB a year defense budget needed to maintain our oil economy dependency, we will never rationalize the opportunity to create a new future for our kids and grandkids.

Republicans are wedded to this dead-end....we shouldn't be.

[pstans]

6. I think that is our hope for 2008

I researched all of the candidates in the primaries in 2004 and Kerry had the most to say about energy independence, more than Kucinich and Dean. That did not get us much of anywhere in the general election.

I think in 2008 though, that energy independence will be the basis of the Democratic platform. With that said, I think Al Gore might just be the man to bring that message. Gore is a strong environmentalist and I think he truly understands the problem we face and he has the vision for the future.

If Gore isn't the person, the Senator Russ Feingold from Wisconsin is a straight shooter that could lay out the problem in easy to understand terms and then tell Americans how we are going to overcome them.

Hmm...maybe a Gore/Feingold 08 ticket is just what we need!

[DBoon]

3. Gas prices aren't jumping up

The value of the dollar is just jumping down.

[CottonBear]

4. I got to meet Kunstler a few years ago.

He is an amazing speaker. He spoke during The Tour de Sprawl in Athens, GA. We took a bike tour around our city and met different speakers at each stop. He spoke about the geography and architecture of nowhere and the lack of alternative transporation and bike routes.

Do not miss the chance to hear him speak!

[pstans]

5. I am a big Kunstler fan

I have been a follower of Kunstler since I read one of his books my Sophomore year of college 4 years ago. I have read 2 of his books and he has one coming out in May about the oil crisis. He is intelligent and provides humor to a pretty scary subject.

I would love to hear him speak, but I live in Iowa and he rarely makes it that far since his home is in upstate NY.