Drill Baby Drill = "Bridge to the 19th Century" Friedman hit it out of the park!

[sunnystarr]

On CNN, when asked which candidate had the best energy policy, Friedman replied Barack Obama. Citing the fact that McCain skipped out on all the votes for green energy in the Senate last year and the "drill baby drill" chants and focus at the R Convention, Friedman stated that that wasn't an energy policy it was a bridge to the 19th century.

I would love to see that interview on youtube.

[kikiek]

1. We export more than we will gain from "drill baby drill". This is the biggest fake out going on.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/04/06/130522.php

Last year the nation exported 268 million barrels of oil. Shockingly, according to Dept. of Energy figures, that's about equal to the amount of oil we imported from Iraq in 2001, the year before our latest war with that country began. It's also about equal to the most optimistic guesses about production volume from ANWR, if drilling is allowed there.

US Oil Exports Hit Record Pace. That's Right, Exports
RSS stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust mixx.com

Posted August 20, 2008 | 02:52 PM (EST)
ho knew that the US is currently exporting 1.8 million barrels of oil a day?

To make sure everybody does, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, sent a public letter to President Bush, asking him to "keep our oil at home."

The letter didn't specify how, but it didn't miss the opportunity to take a shot at the GOP plan to open up protected offshore waters to oil drilling.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sassoon/us-oil-exports-hit-record_b_120058.html

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. I saw that - it was sensational

Friedman came on the show saying that he's switched from writing about terrorism and now writes about global energy issues. He said there need to be government mandates that require the country to turn green. He said it was an exceptional situation in this capitalist system because market forces aren't enough to produce new energy technology (new technology will always be more expensive at first and people won't buy it). He acknowledged that it's one of the few areas where the United States is lagging far behind Europe.

Friedman said he used to think there were two green candidates in this race. No longer does he think that. He cited the fact that McCain has missed all 10 recent votes in the Senate on alternative energy issues. He cited the fact that the platform of the Republican Party virtually ignores alternative energy and instead wants to drill our way out of the energy problem. China and Indian will continue to grow and build a coal fired power plant a week or more and something has got to be done fast.

He said the Republicans were goings backwards. Instead of supporting progress, such as the development of the first cell phone or other products that revolutionized the IT industry, the Republicans are behaving like people who when faced with the first computer, would have asked for more typewriters and black carbon ribbon. He compared the shouting of "drill baby drill" at the Republican National Convention to idiots on the eve of the IT revolution and the first personal computers shouting "ribbon baby ribbon": a bridge into the 19th century.

Freidman said there is only one green candidate in the race and that person is Barack Obama.

It was a great interview, absolutely senstional.