TF Agrees with Me

Tom Friedman is one of my favorite writers. Today, in the NYT, he comments on the "Gas Tax Suspension" proposed by Ms. Clinton and Mr. McCain. I commented on it the other day: http://cocanuts.blogspot.com/2008/04/gas-tax-suspension.html.

Friedman bashes this foolish strategy and equates it to "money laundering". Furthermore, he points out on very disturbing fact about our wonderful Congress.

....When Congress passed the 2007 energy bill last December, it failed to extend any
stimulus for wind and solar energy production. Oil and gas kept all their
credits, but those for wind and solar have been left to expire this December. I
am not making this up. At a time when we should be throwing everything into
clean power innovation, we are squabbling over pennies.

And for those of you that don't care about alternative energy at this point, with the economy suffering, etc (although I assure you that the high price of fuel is partially responsible for the contraction in GDP), maybe you will like this fact regarding jobs and investment growth:

If the wind and solar credits expire, said Resch, the impact in just 2009
would be more than 100,000 jobs either lost or not created in these industries,
and $20 billion worth of investments that won’t be made.

Next time you scoff at some type of additional clean energy source, think about it as you pay you home heating bill (oil or nat gas) or fill up your car. A viable fuel source that would be a competitor to oil-derived products would be the only way to get prices down. Until, then OPEC and these fuel-rich countries have us wrapped around their fingers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/opinion/30friedman.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin