There's a real side benefit to having oil sub-$36/barrel: the nastiest of the nasties are writhing. Especially Sr. Chavez, who is desperate for oil money to fund his grand socialist experiment. I think Hugo once said that oil should be at least $60, a number that I think was a topping off point for Tom Friedman as well.
So, this is a lesson in irony, caused by being too big for one's britches. Chavez, who nationalized his oil industry with such gusto, now wants the evil imperialist dogs back. "Amigos, I was just kidding!"
As Andrew Sullivan says, in a just world, our oil companies, the only ones in the world willing to deal with Venezuela's "sweet" crude, would just give this prick a collective middle finger up his ass. But, with prospects for new oilfields looking depressing, these guys will have little choice, it seems, but to go back, where they'll be ensconsed until the next time oil breaks the $60 barrier, and Hugo's testicles will find their way back.
Can we now see why we need alternative energy now? Not just an environmental thing: once we get into our 12-step from oil, many a mentally diseased asshole will become just another smelly scumbag.
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Highlights from O'Reilly's No Spin News
6 hours ago
We should have been exploring widespread use of Nuclear Power. We are years behind the rest of the world thanks to the tree huggers. Nuclear power is cheap and now safely disposable. Let's hope Obama pushes this hard.
ReplyDeleteNukes are a good thing, in the "short" term. I state it that way b/c between getting approval for a new site and getting the darn thing built, there's little chance we'll see new nukes anytime soon, except if there are off-line plants that can be turned back on. But we need to try.
ReplyDeleteThat said, research into alt. sources will also take forever. Again, we have to get there. I esp. believe solar is the future - a source of energy that will not run out anytime soon.