Peak Oil: The GOP’s Eleven-Day Future

In fact, we will become more vulnerable over the long run, because the renewed embrace of fossil fuels will induce us to postpone the inevitable transition to a postcarbon economy. Sooner or later, the economic, environmental and climate consequences of intensive fossil fuel use will force everyone on the planet to abandon reliance on these fuels in favor of climate-friendly renewables. This is not a matter of if but of when. The  longer we wait, the more costly and traumatic the transition will be, and the greater the likelihood that our economy will fall behind those of other countries that undertake the transition sooner. [1]

In its continuing quest to fashion a vision for a great future (assuming your present is … say, 1831, and the “future” is an eleven-day period), the GOP platform is now calling for an end to funding for Amtrak and a renewed focus on highway spending at the expense of public transportation (and of course also at the expense of biking and pedestrian programs.) Who knew that narrow-mindedness was a virtue?

If that isn’t enough to convince one that the GOP’s pandering to right-wing nonsense is not a complete relinquishment of integrity and reason, the platform also asserts the Republican Party’s opposition to Agenda 21. That is a twenty-year old United Nations resolution encouraging sustainable development. (We cannot have intelligent planning with due consideration for the future. That would be … uh, I’ll get back to you on the rationale.)

Apparently, the fact that Agenda 21 is nonbinding, with no force of law here in America (as is repeated endlessly by those who enjoy facts, logic, reason, and reality) nonetheless both puzzles the Right and raises their Paranoid Meter to orange status. Would it not be cheaper to guarantee the wingnuts a lifetime supply of tin foil hats? True patriots, it seems, would at least offer a few hints to the rest of us about the Anti-Consequence Bubble they will apparently be occupying as Peak Oil, climate change, and various Screw-Everyone-But-The-1%ers economic policies gain a firm grip on our future. (Then again, outright lying as a strategy may continue to be “useful,” as does maintaining residence in a fact-free present.)

The snarky jabs are fun to toss about, but the reality (for those of us who think that matters) is that these incredibly short-sighted ideological positions actually affect us all. As purely academic discourse they may serve a purpose, but when those philosophies are turned into policies with present and long-lasting impacts, the snarky jabs take on more ominous shadings when reality starts poking holes in narrow-minded bubbles. Maybe the Right’s leaders don’t care about you (obviously) and surely they do not care about me and my family and my friends and my community … but I do!

At what point does a modicum of intelligence, integrity, and common sense start to factor into the Right’s expectations, hopes, and plans for America beyond a week from next Friday? The GOP’s transportation objectives and opposition to even consider some thoughtful guidelines to prepare us for a future with less energy sources at the ready is guaranteed to create only more problems for all of us in the years to come. But hey … if it gets votes today and protects the wealthy, who cares about the future, because … because, uh, why is that good?

Peak Oil Matters