John McCain’s newly announced running-mate Vice-Presidential candidate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin proclaimed in her acceptance speech that a proposed natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48 would place the US “on the road to energy independence.”

It is a statement that is risably disingenuous, so crassly manipulative of an apparently ignorant populous as to be comedic were it not so tragic in its demonstration of absolute dereliction of leadership. Only President Carter of all of the Presidents of the last 50 years demonstrated a reasonable grasp of the US’ energy predicament, and he was nearly laughed out of office by the citizenry. While France moved towards 80% nuclear generation, Denmark and Spain moved radically into wind energy, and Germany began lining autobahns with solar panels, the US proceeded to build suburban landscapes ever more frenetically.

Our children will not look kindly on the nearly willful ignorance and rapaciousness of contemporary Americans. That this collective dereliction of responsibility has been wrapped in hyper-patriotism is repugnant. That the putative opposition, including Senator Obama and Speaker of the House Pelosi, have failed to counter the vacuous idea that drilling the continental shelf will have any effect whatsoever on price and the ultimate destiny of an overwhelmingly oil and gas dependent, hopelessly suburban nation; that they have failed to offer any credible, prudent plan is disheartening.

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