Serial Drillers

In their weekly radio riposte to Fredo's mindless jabber (full address here), the Democrats launch their usual tepid counter-proposals to the Id Party's longstanding mission statement:

Democrats sought on Saturday to drum up support for compromise legislation on offshore drilling, challenging Republicans to break from Bush administration policies that neglect development of alternative energy sources.

....

Salazar is part of the bipartisan group supporting a proposal that calls for both limited offshore drilling and taxing the oil industry, while funneling more money into renewable energy. Republican leaders have not embraced the compromise.

And they won't until there's some money in it for them and their fossil-fuel-industry owners. But some fundamental requirements are glaringly absent from Salazar's proposal. What about re-instituting fuel economy standards? How about a gas-guzzler tax? Conservation incentives, not just punitive measures? Research on mixed-use planning to prevent future sprawl, and maybe do something about the current exurban hells dotting the land?

Hell, you do all those things, a modest amount of offshore or ANWR drilling would be a more practical compromise. Needless to say, the Republicans are not looking for compromise; they expect capitulation, and their vivid descriptions of pointy-headed pencil-pushers tellin' good folks how to manage their obese modes of transportation and personal expression is sufficient to rouse the rabble.

Renewable energy and wind turbines and all that are nice, but to paraphrase Jenna Jameson, we're not going to blow our way out of this crisis anymore than we can drill out of it. Anyone can understand why the Democrats don't feel politically confident enough to make that the centerpiece of an energy strategy, even though it needs to be. But as with so many other things, they don't even try, they don't even bring it up.