Out of the three Presidential shitshows…I mean debates, the last one was the best, partially because of the quality of the questions asked, and mostly because of the answers the candidates gave in response to said questions. One of the most intriguing questions surrounded energy policy, specifically oil. Joe Biden’s flip flops on whether he wanted to get rid of the oil industry as a whole made for must-miss television.
For the past few decades, the Left has had its sights on the oil industry and attempted to make it seem like Hitler, but less cuddly. Whether it’s blaming them for global warming/cooling/climate change/whatever it’s called this week or painting them as soulless money grubbers more cartoonish than a Captain Planet villain, the Left is all-in for getting rid of oil if at all possible. And, to be fair, oil companies haven’t always been worthy of protection from bad PR, but are they as bad as they seem? Let’s find out!
the oil industry
What the Left believes it means – an industry that pollutes and destroys the environment for profit, needs to be eliminated as a source of energy
What it really means – an industry that has become more indispensable than we realize
What do you think of when someone mentions oil? I’m guessing it’s either fuel or oil in general. Well, surprise surprise, that’s what the Left thinks of, too! Although it’s not wrong, it’s not the whole picture. Those evil petroleum barons make everything from plastics to Plexiglass. You know, just like the barriers used at the last Presidential debate?
But it goes beyond that. There are industries that are currently oil-dependent for their survival. Farming, transport, construction, these and many more require an oil industry presence for them to do anything. And last time I checked, we kinda need food to survive.
“Well, then we’ll use alternate fuel sources,” Leftists say. In fact, that’s their solution for everything. Replace fossil fuels, like oil, with wind or solar or other alternative energy sources. I’d like to see them put a windmill on a tractor for the sheer comedy value, but it belies the issue with the Left’s position on oil: they don’t understand enough about it to make an informed decision.
Shocking, I know.
In their rush to do a cut and paste energy policy, the Left overlooks the fact machinery requires lubrication and fuel. Right now, the bulk of the machinery uses oil-based products to make them move. It would like millions of dollars to retool existing or new equipment to meet the Left’s standards, but without some form of lubrication, the equipment makes nice paperweights, albeit expensive ones. You could try to use plant-based oils, but you will wind up smelling like you bathe in fry medium. Granted, this might make Leftists more appealing to fast food connoisseurs, but only because they think you might be able to score them some free food.
On the fuel front, the fossil fuel and even the biofuel versions have an advantage over solar and wind in that they can work in any type of weather. Let’s say you have a semi-truck that works on a rechargeable solar battery. It works great when there’s sunlight, right? What happens overnight? With current solar battery life, there are going to be more than a few stranded drivers waiting until the dawn, thus slowing down deliveries of everything from food to supplies. Prices will skyrocket, there will be shortages that can’t be addressed in a timely manner, and it might turn Main Street into one big CHAD/CHOP compound.
But…lower carbon footprint?
Let’s be honest here. Oil isn’t going away anytime soon, and no amount of Leftist wishful thinking will make it happen any sooner without massive infrastructure and technological changes we haven’t tried to make yet and the Left hasn’t figured out we need. The “Party of Science” everybody! Put simply, we need the oil industry to function until we can find a replacement, so the Left is putting the cart before the horse, literally.
Aside from that, the oil industry is a Leftist target because it’s playing the same game the Left has been playing by putting out research to support its position on global warming/cooling/climate disaster/whatever they’re calling it this paragraph. Granted, this is as fucked up as letting Jeffrey Dahmer give you food prep tips, but considering the oil industry’s science is as unbiased as the Left’s, it’s pretty much a wash.
However, it’s not the science that offends the Left in this case; it’s the fact the oil industry isn’t backing down from Leftist pressure. They are combating science with science, as junky as the science may be, and not apologizing for what they do. The Left have to be bullies to get their way, so when someone tells them to go piss up a rope, they don’t take it well. In fact, they work towards destroying anyone and anything that defies them.
You know, like what they’ve been doing for the past few decades?
As badly as the oil industry has screwed up (the Exxon Valdez and BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico come immediately to mind), they are a hell of a lot more useful than the Left is. That doesn’t mean we can’t hold them to task for screw-ups, nor does it mean we shouldn’t be looking for ways to improve our energy policy or find new ways to use the resources we currently use. What it does mean is the Left hasn’t done enough homework to justify completely weaning the country from oil right now.
Maybe that’s why Joe Biden’s position on the oil industry is so disjointed. Naaaaaaaaaah!
