CAMPAIGN REFORM AND PEAK OIL: LET THEM TELECOMMUTE

Campaign Reform and Peak Oil, Let Them Telecommute.

 

The theme that dominated the 2008 Democratic primaries was change. Change is coming regardless of who is elected President. It has been said that the 9-11 attack changed our lives forever, and nothing will be the same again in our lives. So it is.

 

Oil is the lifeblood of our nation  and way of life. In our rush to progress we have used too much oil too fast, in a wasteful manner. Now, we have entered the stage of what some refer to has peak oil.

The U S and now China, Japan, India and others are consuming oil at a rate that exceeds the supply.  Oil reserves are being depleted rapidly. Alternative energy sources and conservation are touted as cures. But they are decades away from realization, because governments have failed to act to implement viable alternatives. Energy independence is a myth.

 

Life after oil will be very different. The transition will not be easy. Oil has become very costly. Soon it will be rationed and, then, not available at any price. The implications for our way of life and the survival of our nation are frightening to contemplate. The stage has been set for wars over oil. Enormous personal hardships will result for all. Chaos, civil disorder and violence will follow.

 

To survive the change wrought by peak oil, we will have to adapt in every way we can. There will be life after the motor vehicles, planes, airports, suburban sprawl, collegiate and professional sports and of so many other facets of contemporary life that we take for granted. But that life will be very different and hard. We will be back to subsistence level living.

 

The politicians that are promising health  care for all,  energy independence, fixing social security and better days ahead for all, are either ignorant of what lies ahead, or they are lying just to get elected.

 

The 2008 elections for President, Vice President and Congress are crucial to our collective survival and the survival of our nation. All of the candidates have shortcomings. Votersmust choose very carefully. This could be the last hurrah for America and all of us.

 

PEAK OIL CALLS FOR POLITICAL ADAPTATION

 

We can no longer afford to have many hundreds of congress  and senate members flying to and from Washington DC two, or more times weekly. The same is true of hundreds of state legislators

traveling to and from Albany. We are not safe.

 

Spending hundreds of millions, if not billions, to get elected to public office must end.

 

Legislative calendars cluttered with thousands of poorly crafted bills that are going nowhere, must end.

 

The voting public has to pay close attention to elections, now that it is clear, that our very survival is on the line.

 

The media holds the key to campaign reform. It will be difficult to set limits on air/print time, shorten campaign publicity windows, provide equal time and space to all bonafide  candidates and reject the cash windfalls that accrue to media outlets with every campaign season. But, after all, if we do not survive as a nation, neither will the media.

 

America is not safe with all these politicians in the air, on the air and on the nations highways.

 

Political adaptation to the peak oil can begin with   politicians staying home and TELECOMMUTING. Only going to the national and state capitols several times a year, when meaningful, productive legislative sessions are scheduled.  Most of the year they should be hard at work in their own districts.               

 

                                                                                                         J P Sullivan