Bankrupt Citizen? Piss off. Oil Company? Step Right Up ...

I hate starting my day off angry.

Yesterday I posted a story regarding the new bankruptcy bill and how many hurricane victims are going to be subject to further insult and indignity because of this predatory and extremely transparent kiss ass to big lenders.

This morning, one of the first stories I saw posted on my politics list was about new Republican pushes to rollback environmental rules in order to increase oil production, and it's just appalling:

House Republicans on Wednesday will launch a rapid-fire assault against environmental protections on the pretext of helping the U.S. oil and gas industry recover from hurricane damage, environmental groups charge.

I hate to call the media on a liberal bias, but using the word "pretext" certainly implies this writer's opinion. Since I share it, I don't care.

The resources panel, led by Richard Pombo of California, wants to lift a ban on Florida offshore drilling, promote oil shale and sell a dozen national parks for energy development.

Several things wrong with this.

1. FLORIDA offshore drilling? Are you kidding me? Let's invest millions into more rigs that will get blown over next year, and the year after that, and the year after that?

2. Oil shale is still a pretty controversial prospect. Apparently Shell has developed a new extraction method that may not turn Colorado, Utah and Wyoming into ugly strip mined messes, but even the government recognizes that there are serious environmental issues that need to be addressed. There is also the matter of the tremendous amount of water that is apparently used in the extraction process. Even if there isn't an eventual loss or contamination of water (and I'll bet there is), there would still be diversions of water in order to use it for the extraction and in case nobody's noticed, one natural disaster we have out here is wildfires. Why? Because we don't have much WATER. My water bills for a mostly xeriscaped small lawn with drip lines and a house with low flow shower heads runs about $100/month in the summer, thank you very much - I don't need to see that rise just so we can delay the inevitable demise of the oil age. Besides, I kind of think Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah are pretty and I don't trust oil companies to keep it that way.

3. Sell national parks for energy development? No. How about responsible energy development that isn't based on destroying habitats, places of beauty and wonder, and entire ecospheres just so people don't have to worry their pretty little heads about maybe not buying an Excursion for every day grocery store trips. Besides, didn't Bush just ask us to conserve?

Texan Joe Barton's energy committee wants to expand U.S. gasoline production by loosening federal rules that limit pollution when refineries or coal-fired power plants are expanded. U.S. gasoline supplies have tightened since hurricanes Katrina and Rita roared across the U.S. Gulf Coast, closing up to one-fourth of the nation's refining capacity.

Ding ding ding ... Joe Barton. There's a surprise.

Bush specifically criticized the relatively obscure "new source review" rule administered by the Environmental Protection Agency as part of the Clean Air Act. It aims to protect public health by ensuring that refinery expansions do not increase acid rain and smog.

Environmentalists perked up their ears at Bush's remarks, noting that he rarely mentions the program.

"You know darn well that the president doesn't have a clue what new source review is," said Frank O'Donnell of Clean Air Watch. "It's clear that there's a coordinated effort between the White House and Congress to put key environmental protections on the chopping block."

I think I just got a little crush on Frank O'Donnell.

There's more to the article, go read it. And then contact your Representatives and Senators.

Lay Back and Enjoy It

If you are a hurricane victim, have lost everything (including your job) and can't get back to your filing district by October 17, be prepared to get screwed. Big time.

The new bankruptcy bill takes effect on October 17th, you see, and unless you file before then, you're going to be subject to the new regulations, including having to pay back part or all of your debt if your income meets certain requirements (even if you no longer have that job).

You'd think that in extreme circumstances, our government would reconsider the effective date of this legislation or offer exemptions - and indeed, some have. But this gem of an elected official says it's a bad idea:

Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, rejected the notion of reopening the legislation, saying it already included provisions that would ensure that people left "down and out" by the storm would still be able to shed most of their debts. Lawmakers who lost the long fight over the law, he said, "ought to get over it," according to The Associated Press.

Now, when I was a teenager, we had this guy in Texas who ran for governor name Clayton Williams. He was amusing at times, but one statement got him into a big heap of trouble when he said, regarding rape, that it's kind of like a rainstorm - "If it's inevitable, just lay back and enjoy it." If rainstorm is to rape what Katrina and Rita are to bankrupt Americans, it looks like Mr Sensenbrenner would agree with old Clayton, and that just shouldn't be tolerated.

Stop Driving!

Now that Bush has offered tax cuts to the folks who don't need them, spent a couple hundred billion on a war with no end in sight, approved a bulging pork sandwich of a transportation bill, told credit card companies he's fine with them crushing the customers they solicit relentlessly, continued to push his expensive medicare/medicaid program, and almost gotten his social security privatized, he finally has the answer for our economic woes ... STOP DRIVING!

With fears mounting that high energy costs will crimp economic growth, President Bush called on Americans yesterday to conserve gasoline by driving less. He also issued a directive for all federal agencies to cut their own energy use and to encourage employees to use public transportation.

Sure, the transportation bill sets aside a big chunk of money to develop public transportation, but it should have been addressed a long time ago. I'm willing to give Bush a bit of a pass on this one since science and industry have known for decades that oil shortages were going to be an issue eventually and we've just chosen to ignore it.

Of course, Bush & Co never really wanted us to conserve:

Mr. Bush's comments, while similar to remarks he made shortly after the disruption from Hurricane Katrina pushed gasoline prices sharply higher, were particularly notable because the administration has long emphasized new production over conservation. It has also opted not to impose higher mileage standards on automakers.

In 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it cannot be the basis of a sound energy policy." Also that year, Ari Fleischer, then Mr. Bush's press secretary, responded to a question about reducing American energy consumption by saying "that's a big no."

"The president believes that it's an American way of life," Mr. Fleischer said.

But that's all in the past. The American Way of Life can't ignore facts, apparently, and the facts are that we can't exist indefinitely at our current standard of spoiled rottenedness when the engine (literally) of our consumption is a finite resource.

So here's a big "duh" shoutout to all who voted for this guy based on his transparent lies and overtly greedy agenda - enjoy that Hummer, I hope you choke on your $1000/month gasoline bills.

Office Depot

If you need to get a reality check on how our society has lost all common sense, just pick up an Office Depot catalog and start flipping. Thousands and thousands of products, and they still won't have that one thing you're looking for. It's a little depressing.

TEOTWAWKI

Just called my relatively well off, white friends in the Woodlands (just north of Houston) and they have decided to stay put. They've got full tanks of gas, batteries, food, beer, and most of their neighbors are staying as well so they have some support for each other in case a tree falls on someone's house. They do NOT have flood insurance, but I'm guessing they won't get flooded - their biggest threat will probably be trees or tree branches - "The Woodlands" isn't randomly named. They decided that the disaster that has been the I-45 evacuation just wasn't worth the hassle, even though apparently right now the roads are deserted. They're going to a friend's house to play poker and hang out tonight and generally sounded completely unworried about the whole thing.

Of course, up here in Colorado all we can do is watch these disasters and feel slightly guilty for our picture perfect weather. Sure, we have wildfires and the occasional snowfall, but our number one weather related killer is lightning - not something that usually sends the general public into a panic.

So, given that I can't wrap my brain around the immediate impacts of Katrina and Rita for those down on the Gulf Coast, I keep finding myself pondering the long term effects. Certainly I'm not alone, it's all over the media that gas prices will go to $4-5/gallon, but I wish they'd start talking about some of the more long term ripples. The incremental impacts of increased prices for anything that is made of a petroleum based product or relies on petroleum for transportation is just mind blowing. If I look around, I see that I am surrounded by petroleum in my clothes, my home, my office, my car - everywhere. The roads, consumer products, healthcare (tubes, syringes, IV bags). Heating and electricity for my home, airline travel to see my far flung family. Everything.

What's going to happen? What will happen to people who can't afford to heat their stupidly oversized homes (I'm guilty of owning one myself)? What will happen to people who are upside down on car loans for SUV's and can't afford to spend $200 to fill up their 40 gallon tanks but now can't unload them? What will happen to all of those people who have created a huge investor based real estate market but can't keep tenants because of energy costs or have to take losses on their investments and don't have any bankruptcy protection anymore? What will happen to Wal-Mart?

Long term, I think this is not all bad. I will be happy to see a return to more rationally sized cars and homes. My husband would love to have a cool Jeep type car but knows that the only time he'd use its "Jeepness" would be for a very occasional trip to the mountains - most of his driving is a commute and it doesn't make sense to pay more for gas just to commute. Both of us have wanted to get out of our big house for a while but financial circumstances don't allow it, oddly enough. We have to ride things out for a while and hope for the best, but we CAN look at making sure that we tighten up the efficiency of the home. My kids will have to learn what it was like when *I* was a kid - there was no turning up the heat, there was "put on a sweater," or "get a blanket" when it was cold in the house. We'll have to spend money to save money and start looking at compact fluorescents to replace lights in our home, motion detectors for the exterior of the house so we don't leave lights on all of the time, and super efficient appliances when it comes time to replace. Of course, making those investments may mean we end up staying in the house even longer since we'll want to see the eventual savings come back to us, but we'll see. We probably have another year that we can last in one car, maybe three in the other - hopefully by the time we start looking to replace, hybrids will be much more efficient than they are now (meaning - "not really) and society will have gotten over its penis compensating need for a huge car.

Looking even longer term, I wonder what will happen to families. Will they start moving back together? If we are looking at the beginning of the end of oil, will I just expect the boys to live with us through college? There is a community college within bicycle distance, will they go there for a couple of years and then transfer to another college to finish up? Will that be a bad thing or a good thing? I probably would have been better off in the long run if I had stayed home for a year or two, actually. Will families turn away from TV and towards tending a garden and canning? Will bicycle companies have record profits? Will obesity get better or worse - if food's more expensive, then highly processed crap may become more of a part of people's diets, but on the other hand, if people skip going to movies and spend more time taking walks, getting to know neighbors, taking up hobbies, maybe they'll eat less. Speaking of movies, will they get better or worse as movie companies clamor for audiences that have to become choosier about when they're going to spend $8 a ticket. Will movie makers shift more towards indie quality flicks (probably not - those can wait until the videos come out) or even bigger budget kablowie movies (more likely)?

Will Colorado, Wyoming and Utah become the new hope for oil with our vast oil shale reserves? Will it be the new fight with environmentalists? SHOULD it be done at all or should we just start moving towards alternative energies and give up on oil as soon as possible?

Who will fill in for the United States on the world stage if our economy takes a tumble, and will we ever regain our dominance again?

Or ... does any of this matter if the avian flu washes across the planet and takes out billions of people?

We live in interesting times...

Hmm, so much for remembering to blog ...

I thought maybe if I had a blog, I'd do a better job of journaling. Apparently that isn't the case since it's been well over a month since my last post.

For the last week and a bit, I at least have an excuse - frankly, I just haven't had the heart to post much on Katrina and 9/11. Katrina's been done to death (I feel slightly guilty about being in Katrina Burnout mode) and I am just not interested in 9/11 anymore. It was tragic, but Bush's own hijacking has diminished it - and by that, I mean using 9/11 as the reasoning for the invasion of a country with no conclusive connection to the event. It's disrespectful to those who died and I'm afraid that has made me want to push it aside. I must also admit other distances - geographically I am nowhere near New York. Personally, although I am in the brokerage industry, the people who worked for my company were in the bottom of WTC5 and were all safe. The closest I got was a good friend and co-worker whose uncle, Jason Dahl, was the Captain of Flight 93. I did not know the man.

So. As for the last week and a half, it has been quite an eye opener. We have made some changes in our household already.

- Bill and I had already decided to buy bikes a few weeks ago and both cut out some local driving and add some more healthy time wasters to our schedules (riding instead of watching TV). That move seems even more sensible now that gas prices are up.

- I find myself feeling even more animosity towards the SUV crowd, except when I see them at the gas stations. That sight gives me a little perverse pleasure, especially when I see a mom with school aged kids and can picture her sitting in a carpool lane. My hatred of SUV's with "Support Our Troops" stickers on the back has reached an all time high.

- I feel more of an urge to get healthy than I've felt in a long time. There is some twisted Katrina logic going on here, some survivalist feelings and some realization that I'm incredibly fortunate to be in good health, living in a nice place, relatively well off in just about every manner ... and I'm wasting it. It's selfish.

- The TV has got to go. Ms. Coulter, if you read this - that's not a decision I made after the list's discussion today, it's something that has been simmering for a while. It's a waste of time and I'm of the mind that I'm just not a good parent if I let the boys watch this stuff. This weekend sealed the deal - I let the boys watch a Yu-Gi-Yo DVD we got at the library. I can't stand those shows, but Jake likes them. I realized that they were incredibly knowledgable about the rules of the Yu-Gi-Yo battles, and it made me sick to think that Jake can tell me what damned near every card means but hasn't mastered reading yet.

So - as tragic as Katrina was and as much as I wish it had never happened, I hope that I can at least hold on to the feeling of being so very, very fortunate because that's what's pushing this urge to change.