Reason #68: Oil Junkies

America’s longtime energy mantra: Keep the oil flowing no matter what the cost.

When Ronald Reagan was governor of California, nothing pissed him off more than Berkeley hippies and their Vietnam protests. The Gipper despised all the tree-hugging flower children, who in turn disdained anybody in a business suit. Today, the town is still full of wild-eyed lefties, and nothing’s changed except their rallying cries: “Hell, no, we won’t go!” has been replaced by “No blood for oil!”

That slogan gets repeated a lot, and it’s tempting to write it off as hippie-dippy nonsense when the woman chanting it has hairy legs and showers twice a week. But the truth is, America has been trading blood for oil for decades. The Iraq War wasn’t a mission to stop terrorism, it was, in part, the latest move to maintain America’s longtime energy mantra: Keep the oil flowing no matter what the cost.

Our addiction to oil has us headed for even bigger disasters, and $4 or $5 per gallon gasoline is just the beginning. In The End of Oil, Paul Roberts states that by 2035, the world’s demand for oil will jump from the current 80 million barrels a day to 140 million barrels a day. That level of demand is going to push gas prices through the stratosphere, even if oil-producing nations remain politically stable and free of strife (which they won’t). But so far we’ve done little to wean ourselves off foreign oil and find cleaner, more stable alternatives. Our lawmakers haven’t called for significant improvements in fuel economy or invested more money in public transit. And worst of all, they haven’t rallied American citizens to conserve energy or drive less, even though doing so would be the most patriotic action we could undertake right now.

It’s another symptom of the rank cowardice rotting out the heart of Washington DC. Paul Roberts summed it up: “American policy makers are too paralyzed to act, terrified that to change U.S. energy patterns would offend millions of Americans.” To repeat: No Democrat or Republican is brave enough to enact a sane, long-term energy policy or call for Americans to sacrifice, because that might mean sacrificing his or her re-election in the process.

NEXT: Reason #69: The Seven Brothers Own Our Asses