Bob Tippee
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the leading challenger in this year's presidential race, has provided a glimpse of what life would be like for the oil and gas industry if he occupied the White House.
In a word: antagonistic.
Kerry's campaign on Mar. 30 issued a "plan to lower gas prices" containing more vilification than ingenuity.
The first target of scorn is oil itself.
An introduction to Kerry's plan dismisses the substance that satisfies 40% of US energy needs as "that polluting fossil fuel that by its very nature is limited."
Then it lashes President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney for having the audacity to put the nation's most important energy source at the center of national energy policy.
The plan wails on behalf of families paying elevated prices for gasoline but fails to note that the objects of this pity as yet seem little inclined to drive less or buy smaller vehicles.
Then this: "While families are paying record prices at the pumps, oil industries are bringing in record profits. For example, Exxon's after-tax profits for 2003 were over $20 billion."
Are we to presume that a Kerry administration would outlaw profits coincident with high prices? Haven't the Kerry folks heard about Exxon's merger with Mobil Corp.? Or does "Exxon" sound more demonic than "ExxonMobil"?
Oil and gas executives don't escape scorn. The introduction describes them sarcastically as "famed for their impartiality and concern for the long-term good of the planet."
Otherwise, the proposals are forgettable.
Kerry thinks Bush should quit buying crude for strategic storage and tell exporters to raise production.
He would encourage "responsible oil/gas development in the US," which means not allowing drilling where none has occurred. He acknowledges the boutique fuel problem but shows only a vague understanding of the issue.
He'd promote renewable energy and impose "incentives to help Americans use energy more cleanly and efficiently."
Yawn. This plan is more about politics than BTUs, which is unsurprising in a political campaign.
The blame blast, though, is especially shrill. And its targets are clear: oil and people associated with it.
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