Can We Please Have An Energy Policy? Is That Asking Too Much?

As a follow-up to my last post regarding the federal gasoline tax, take a look at what Thomas Friedman had to say in his New York Times Op-Ed piece today.

It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away.

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Good for Barack Obama for resisting this shameful pandering.

But here’s what’s scary: our problem is so much worse than you think. We have no energy strategy. If you are going to use tax policy to shape energy strategy then you want to raise taxes on the things you want to discourage — gasoline consumption and gas-guzzling cars — and you want to lower taxes on the things you want to encourage — new, renewable energy technologies. We are doing just the opposite.

And then there's President Bush and his head-in-the-sand approach.

Bush declined to take a position on the concept of a gas tax holiday, saying he was "open to any ideas" to deal with rising fuel prices. But in a news conference in the Rose Garden, he focused on controversial, longer-term proposals aimed at loosening environmental or regulatory restrictions on domestic oil exploration and production, and he also advocated building additional nuclear plants.

"If there was a magic wand to wave," Bush said, "I'd be waving it, of course. . . . But there is no magic wand to wave right now. It took us a while to get to this fix."

Needless to say, the video was far more entertaining than reading an excerpt. How sad and pathetic. After more than 7 years in office, the leader of our nation is "open to any ideas" because he clearly has none of his own.