Sullivan is already celebrating President Bush’s apparent forthcoming statement that the United States is “addicted to oil.”
How many times do people have to fall for this before they wise up? You don’t even have to read the news stories very carefully. The President will apparently say that the US is addicted to foreign oil. And then you know the same old “policy” response: drill everywhere, destroy environmental regulations, do something cosmetic like talk about hydrogen a little, and that’s it. Same old, same old.
Remember: this is an administration that tries to use problems, not solve them.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me over and over and over again-give me my White House press credential?
UPDATE: Sullivan has quickly come to his senses (with the assistance of a couple of swift kicks from his readers: kudos to him for regularly printing them). Bush (unsurprisingly) has not. In fact he did emphasize Middle Eastern oil. He also talked about a “post-petroleum” economy, but it’s all about how technology will save us. if Mike is right, then ethanol could be part of the equation, but the key is that this ethanol is made from the right substances and that carbon sequestration works effectively. Anyone think that this bunch can do it right? Didn’t think so.
Author: Jonathan Zasloff
Jonathan Zasloff teaches Torts, Land Use, Environmental Law, Comparative Urban Planning Law, Legal History, and Public Policy Clinic - Land Use, the Environment and Local Government. He grew up and still lives in the San Fernando Valley, about which he remains immensely proud (to the mystification of his friends and colleagues). After graduating from Yale Law School, and while clerking for a federal appeals court judge in Boston, he decided to return to Los Angeles shortly after the January 1994 Northridge earthquake, reasoning that he would gladly risk tremors in order to avoid the average New England wind chill temperature of negative 55 degrees.
Professor Zasloff has a keen interest in world politics; he holds a PhD in the history of American foreign policy from Harvard and an M.Phil. in International Relations from Cambridge University. Much of his recent work concerns the influence of lawyers and legalism in US external relations, and has published articles on these subjects in the New York University Law Review and the Yale Law Journal. More generally, his recent interests focus on the response of public institutions to social problems, and the role of ideology in framing policy responses.
Professor Zasloff has long been active in state and local politics and policy. He recently co-authored an article discussing the relationship of Proposition 13 (California's landmark tax limitation initiative) and school finance reform, and served for several years as a senior policy advisor to the Speaker of California Assembly. His practice background reflects these interests: for two years, he represented welfare recipients attempting to obtain child care benefits and microbusinesses in low income areas. He then practiced for two more years at one of Los Angeles' leading public interest environmental and land use firms, challenging poorly planned development and working to expand the network of the city's urban park system. He currently serves as a member of the boards of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (a state agency charged with purchasing and protecting open space), the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice (the leading legal service firm for low-income clients in east Los Angeles), and Friends of Israel's Environment. Professor Zasloff's other major activity consists in explaining the Triangle Offense to his very patient wife, Kathy.
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