The Energy Bill is bad. Bad bad bad naughty boys put it together with instructions from their bosses in the energy industries, especially oil of course. The bill, which looks like is it about to be passed while we argue about somewhat diversionary issues, would speed oil drilling off of the California, Florida, North Carolina, and other coasts. It would allow oil companies to pollute rivers and drinking water with toxic wastes, giving them a whole lot more money to add to their considerable profit margin. It ignores high gas prices, dependence on foreign oil, renewable energy, and global warming – and would actually weaken existing fuel economy standards. I had a commenter yesterday claim that “big oil” was a cliche – blind fools. How about making them pay a “green tax” to help clean up their huge messes? Call or write your senators today to insist that any final energy bill at least includes a strong 10 percent Renewable Electricity Standard and the Senate tax package – parts that have been deleted from the current version – and that they consider the suggestions of the Apollo Project.

Named after President Kennedy’s Apollo initiative that took Americans to the moon in ten years, the Apollo Alliance – a ground-breaking coalition of labor, environmental and urban activists – has detailed elements of a bold plan for energy independence. This initiative would generate over three million jobs here in America through investment in alternative energy and energy efficiency. It would help the US capture the growing green markets of the future — from super-efficient appliances to the next generation of automobiles. It would help counter global warming and help reduce the spread of asthma and other respiratory diseases that take a harsh toll on American children. And, it would free America of its dependence on Persian Gulf oil. Instead of embracing the positive Apollo vision, Congress has repackaged the President’s failed big oil energy policies of the past, adding a few green measures as decoration. The bill lards subsidies to oil and gas producers, providing them a large return for their political contributions. It puts the interests of contributors and corporate lobbies above those of the nation.

Rawstory.com is where I found these tidbits:

Cheney’s energy task force – I’m guessing basically the same people in charge of the current energy bill – publically took interest in Iraq’s oil before 9-11 of course. Strategic Energy Policy Challenges For The 21st Century describes America’s “biggest energy crisis in its history.” It targets Saddam as a threat to American interests because of his control of Iraqi oilfields and recommends the use of ‘military intervention.’ The report is linked to a veritable who’s who of US hawks, oilmen and corporate bigwigs. Commissioned by James Baker, the former US Secretary of State under Bush Sr., it was submitted to Vice-President Dick Cheney in April 2001 — a full five months before September 11. It advocated a policy of using military force against an enemy such as Iraq to secure US access and control of Middle Eastern oil fields. (Sunday Herald)

Oh – and the British Ministry of Defense’s most senior biological weapons expert and adviser to intelligence agencies on Iraq, Dr Kelly was the anonymous source for BBC reports in May 2003 that a dossier used by the Blair Government to justify invading Iraq had been “sexed up.” After being revealed as the BBC’s source and grilled before a parliamentary inquiry, Dr Kelly was found dead in July 2003. Rawstory.com from The Age. What’s happening with the Downing Street memo? Anything at all?

You know, America hated Richard Nixon for what he did – don’t he look so cute and quaint now?