Addiction to Petroleum? Hardly.

Derrick Jackson doesn't know what he's talking about - again.

He starts with the usual "Big Oil" and continues into an anecdotal story.  But the fact is, while 37% of our energy use is from petroleum, 98% of that is used in transportation. For Jackson to claim the following is ridiculous:

We still have not had the seminal wake-up call. The Republican governors of Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, and New Jersey made it a badge of honor to demonize high-speed rails and a commuter-rail tunnel, throwing federal funds back to Washington like dead fish.


What is the love affair with rail?  It still runs on petroleum, not magic fairy dust.  That one needs a bus, or cab or other mode of transportation at the end of the line, makes the trip more expensive and reduces any gains from "mass transit".


Last month, the new Republican House majority, which has declared war on the Environmental Protection Agency, inspired infantile behavior from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The organization wrote Darrell Issa, the new House oversight chairman, to protest the potential cost of fuel-efficiency standards as high as 62 miles per gallon being considered by the Obama administration.


There is no current technology to get us to 62 mpg without making crazily unsafe cars, like the Dumb (Smart) Car.  Even then, Dumb Cars are only listed at 41 mpg highway. Physics over fairy dust, Derrick.  News flash:  Big auto doesn't give a $#it about Big Oil's profits.  If Big Auto can get 62 mpg and sell a mess of cars, they'll do it.


Once again, the Big Lie of Big Oil and an addiction.  See it for what it is.