Hey Boomers. Few things up front, here. First, my absence for the last 520 days was my fault and only my fault. I hope the RKBA folks who I blamed it on at the time can somehow forgive me. I'm sorry. My saying this stuff is not because it's a condition of my reinstatement. I'm back. Management put no conditions on that other than my obeying the rules. I'm saying these things because I want to say them and I need to say them. Fact is, I agree with the RKBA people on so many things. In my future diaries, for instance, you'll find I use the "Assault Weapons Ban" as an example of worse-than-useless, poorly researched, poorly targeted legislation. But just as an example - not going to focus on 2nd Amendment issues. At all. Ever.
Second, I want to thank someone who has been my favorite political cartoonist for some time now. Eric Lewis (ericlewis0) was not only instrumental in bringing me home, I dare say he fucking did that. I cannot thank Eric and the people who joined with him in that effort enough. I love you all. Forgive me, still kinda choked up about this whole thing. Give me a minute and I'll continue below the caricature of an orange dog turd.
I was going to wait until next week to publish my 1st diary in so many days, but I have something I don't think can wait. Our President is going to be selecting his new cabinet. I would like to see Bob Cavnar named Secretary of Energy. Let's say Bob Cavnar or someone with similar credentials, as I haven't talked to him about this and he might want to kill me because of that. Now, environmentalists are no doubt pushing for someone from the green-energy industry to take that post. I'd be okay with that too, but I have specific reasons why I think Bob (again, or someone like him) is what we need for these next four years. I've not heard if Chu wants to stay on or not, so this might all be beside the point. I'd be okay with Dr. Steven Chu keeping his position as Energy Secretary too, by the way.
My reasoning in wanting Bob Cavnar to be named Secretary of Energy goes like this. Right now, and certainly for the next four years and beyond, carbon based fuels are still going to be the huge majority of energy used in this country. You don't have to like that. I don't have to like that. I'm positive that President Obama does not like that, no matter what anyone says to the contrary. It is a fact.
It is also a fact that there are a lot of fucking problems in the oil and gas and coal industries. The BP Oil Blowout Disaster Clusterfuck is a splendid example of how things go when you have no one in the upper reaches of government who know anything about those problems. On the flip-side, if McCain had won the 2008 election you'd have seen an excellent example of people in the upper reaches of government who know an awful lot about the industry, and in fact work for only their interests. The Gulf disaster could have been much much worse. That's how.
Bob Cavnar is many things. He is absolutely one of the most liberal and progressive people I count amongst my friends. He is one of the kindest human beings I have ever met, as well as being one of the most intelligent. He is a rock solid Democrat. Rock. Solid. If you ask him who his favorite, most-admired person in government is, however, I think he'll name someone who is NOT a Democrat. I'm nearly certain, he would name Senator Bernie Sanders. Let me tell you something else. Bob Cavnar knows his shit about the oild & gas industry, and energy in general. I know this because I know my own shit about the oil & gas industry and when there's something I can't figure out, I call Bob. Bob Cavnar is an environmentalist. Ask Rachel Maddow if that's true. It is.
Human-Caused Climate Change is another fact. I've disagreed with Bill McKibben (rather loudly) on a few things. But read his piece in The Rolling Stone. I agree with every paragraph, every sentence, every word. This planet is warming. It is warming faster and with greater consequence than most of us thought possible, and we humans, especially we humans in the USA are fucking-well causing it. I'm for all the green technology there is, but I think concentrating on nothing but green technology overlooks a simple truth. We have to change our lifestyles. We have to change our lifestyles drastically and we have to change them now. We have to conserve. We have to employ Conservation. We have to stop using so much goddamn oil & gas & coal and we cannot wait until that energy is replaced by solar, wind or anything else. We have to do it right now. Humans being what we are, and more importantly, humans in the United States of America being the way we are, this cannot be left to choice. That's right. We're going to have to give up some freedom here. Democrats are going to have to give up some freedom and Republicans are going to have to give up some freedom and we are probably going to have to be forced BY LAW, by regulation, by goddamn decree if that's necessary, to use a lot less fucking oil and gas and coal. Politically, this is obviously going to be horribly difficult. That's why I want Bob Cavnar to be the next Secretary of Energy.
I should point out that this is becoming more politically possible every single day, helped by the fact that conserving energy saves individual citizens one hell of a lot of money.
Another reason I want Bob in President Obama's cabinet is that the carbon-based production industries are way way way under-regulated. Many in those industries themselves know this and have begun to cautiously say so. But what those industries should fear from a Democratic administration more than anything else, is bad, poorly conceived and poorly targeted regulation - the sort of regulations that result from people in government knowing nothing about the industry. What we environmentalists should fear about bad, poorly targeted regulation is that it is very very easy to get around.
Again, Bob Cavnar. Secretary of Energy. Somebody call Rachel and see what she thinks about that. I think with her help, maybe we could get that done.
I'll (fucking start to) close this by saying, regardless of anything I've written above, that President Obama will allow the KXL Pipeline to be built, he will not outlaw hydraulic fracturing and that he has my full support on both of those - with some exceptions and considerations I will explain in future diaries. I need to talk about my standing in discussing these things on Daily Kos. Yes. I work in the oil & gas industry. Many of the people I love and respect work in the oil & gas industry - among them, Bob Cavnar. I've blocked very few people on Twitter, but a half dozen of those were people who maintained that I have no standing to discuss these topics as a liberal and a progressive and an environmentalist because my livelihood somehow conflicts with all that. That's a goddamn insult. It's just as much an insult as me saying anyone who puts gas in their car or travels by air with jet engines that run on kerosene - is too conflicted to join in the discussion. For one thing, my job and my income are two separate things. I'm old. More of my income comes from investments with some of my clients, the larger share of which are in wind energy, solar as well as other stuff not having anything to do with energy.
Okay look. I support way way more regulation on the oil & gas industry than we presently have. Not only that, but I support the gradual, near-complete nationalization of all oil & gas reserves (see Venezuela, see Hugo Chavez). Boomers, you go run that past the upper management of Exxon, BP, Chevron and the rest of them see what they think about that. I'll wait.
"Fishgrease, we just returned from telling the CEOs of Exxon, BP and Chevron that you support increased regulation and nationalization of oil & gas reserves. They said they would pay us a lot of money to murder you."
So. Now we're all a little conflicted.
I'm so so happy to be back. I love you all.
Oh. And I'll no longer argue with anyone, at any time in the comments sections. I'll answer questions, or, more likely, make a note to discuss them in future diaries. If I completely ignore you time after time it's probably because I think you're a dick or a moron. Right. Takes one to know one.
