Bush and Big Oil *

PERHAPS THE MOST SURPRISING aspect of ExxonMobil’s support of the think tanks waging the disinformation campaign is that, given its close ties to the Bush administration (which cited “incomplete” science as justification to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol), it’s hard to see why the company would even need such pseudo-scientific cover. In 1998, Dick Cheney, then CEO of Halliburton, signed a letter to the Clinton administration challenging its approach to Kyoto. Less than three weeks after Cheney assumed the vice presidency, he met with ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond for a half-hour. Officials of the corporation also met with Cheney’s notorious energy task force.  ExxonMobil’s connections to the current administration go much deeper, . . . Chris Mooney, Mother Jones. May/June 05 MORE
 

Energy Insanity

Next year, the administration will phase out the $2,000 tax credit for buying a hybrid vehicle, which gets over 50 miles per gallon, but will leave in place the $25,000 tax write-off for a Hummer, which gets 10-12 mpg. That's truly crazy, and that's truly what the whole Cheney energy policy is. . . last year's energy bill (same as this one) would cost taxpayers at least $31 billion, do nothing about the projected over-80 percent increase in America's imports of foreign oil by 2025, and increase gasoline prices. . . The Natural Resources Defense Council found a Bush speech on energy on March 9 in Ohio . . . "The key principle is 'responsible energy exploration.' And remember, it's NOT drilling for oil. It's responsible energy exploration."  Molly Ivans, AfterNet, 3/29/05 MORE

Bush Energy Policy: Tax Breaks for Hummers; Drilling in Anwar "

The market is very concerned that even the Saudis might be short of spare capacity by the end of the year," said Frederic Lasserre, head of commodities research at SG Securities in Paris.  At some point the market would price oil so high that economies would begin to contract and demand would fall. Rampant inflation driven by high oil prices are also a potential concern. 
Violence in Iraq and production shortfalls elsewhere due to weather or labor unrest could worsen the scenario.  "If we have any unforeseen disruptions, the world is going to be short of oil," said Lasserre. "We can easily imagine prices of $70 to $75 (per barrel) this year if we have such disruptions."  The International Energy Agency [is] . . .drawing the picture of a market in which heavy consumption will continue to strain supply.George Jahn, AP 3/16/05 MORE

Alternative to Neocon Oil Policy*

*there is an alternative to . . .the neocons [oil politics], and it is the "geo-greens." . .The geo-greens believe that, . . .if we put all our focus on reducing the price of oil - by conservation, by developing renewable and alternative energies and by expanding nuclear power - we will force more reform than by any other strategy. You give me $18-a-barrel oil and I will give you political and economic reform from Algeria to Iran. All these regimes have huge population bubbles and too few jobs. . . .Shrink the oil revenue and they will have to open up their economies and their schools and liberate their women so that their people can compete. It is that simple.  By refusing to rein in U.S. energy consumption, the Bush team is not only depriving itself of the most effective lever for promoting internally driven reform in the Middle East, it is also depriving itself of any military option. Friedman, NY Times, 1/30/05 MORE

Bush Fights Iraq/Afghan Wars for Liberty, Freedom and Profit *

American companies might join a long-delayed trans-Afghan natural gas pipeline project expected to be launched in 2006, the U.S. ambassador to Turkmenistan said Tuesday. . . U.S. company Unocal Corp., based in El Segundo, California, was considering participation in the project in the 1990s, but plans were abandoned when the United States fired cruise missiles into Afghanistan in 1998 in pursuit of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, blamed for two U.S. embassy bombings that year in East Africa.  Since the U.S.-led offensive that ousted the Taliban from power, the project has been revived and drawn strong U.S. support. The pipeline would allow formerly Soviet Central Asian nations to exports rich energy resources without relying on Russian routes. Associated Press, 1/18/05 MORE

The Bush Plan for Iraq's Oil*

 [A February 2003 State Department document provides a]  . . .highly detailed program, begun years before the tanks rolled, for imposing a new regime of low taxes on big business, and quick sales of Iraq's banks and bridges—in fact, "ALL state enterprises"—to foreign operators. . . when it comes to oil, the Plan leaves nothing to chance—or to the Iraqis. . . the secret drafters emphasized that Iraq would have to "privatize" (i.e., sell off) its "oil and supporting industries." . . . In this looming battle between what Iraqis wanted and what the Bush administration planned for them, the Iraqis had an unexpected ally, Gen. Jay Garner, . . .appointed by our president. . .as a kind of temporary Pasha to run the soon-to-be conquered nation. . .[But] Garner's 90-days-to-democracy pledge ran into a hard object: . . Disposing of a nation's oil industry. . .can't be done in a weekend, nor in 90 days. Annex D lays out a strict 360-day schedule. . .Elections would have to wait. . . Our troops would simply have to stay in Mesopotamia a bit longer.  Palast, TomPaine.com, 10/26/04 MORE

Democracy or Oil?*

ILHAM ALIYEV was inaugurated as president of the oil-rich Muslim country of Azerbaijan . . .after an election condemned by international observers as blatantly fraudulent. . . There followed a massive, nationwide crackdown in which more than 1,000 people were arrested . . .A new report by Human Rights Watch documents numerous cases of torture. . .against the opposition leaders. . . .Azerbaijan, in short, might look like a good place for President Bush to start imple-menting his frequently declared policy of "spreading freedom" to the world. . .[Instead,] The administration waived congressional restrictions to grant Azerbaijan $3 million in military aid . .. . . Over the last decade Mr. Aliyev and his father granted billions in contracts to such companies as BP-Amoco, ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil. Washinton Post Editorial, 1/25/04

Chaney, Wolfowitz Oil Lies*

The task force, which was based at the Pentagon as part of the planning for the war, produced a book-length report that described the Iraqi oil industry as so badly damaged by a decade of trade embargoes that its production capacity had fallen by more than 25 percent, panel members have said.

Despite those findings, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz told Congress during the war that "we are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon."

Moreover, Vice President Dick Cheney said in April, on the day Baghdad fell, that Iraq's oil production could hit 3 million barrels a day by the end of the year, even though the task force had determined that Iraq was generating less than 2.4 million barrels a day before the war.  JEFF GERTH, NY Times, 10/5/03

Bush Gives More Help to Oil Companies *

. . . Industry should bear responsibility for cleaning up pollution it causes. Now, in at least two instances, Congress and the White House have begun to alter that balance -- to shift responsibility away from industry and onto taxpayers.