Comments on: The Annual ‘Blame the Oil Companies for our Addiction to Driving’ Congressional Hearing http://blog.lawinfo.com/2008/04/01/2315/ Lawyer Blog | Attorney Blog | Read and Post Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:47:12 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Tom King http://blog.lawinfo.com/2008/04/01/2315/comment-page-1/#comment-3545 Tom King Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:39:33 +0000 http://blog.lawinfo.com/2008/04/01/2315/#comment-3545 Congress can look to itself for the reason for our dependence on foreign oil. 1. They ban drilling 2. The passage of the Public Utility Holding Company Act by Congress forced utilities to divest themselves of streetcar lines. The newly independent lines then had to purchase electricity at full price from their former parents, shaving their already thin margins that much more and helping lead to the collapse of the electric streetcar system. 3. Many legislatures and leaders — heavily lobbied by automakers — sought to accelerate mode shift from streetcars and railroads and toward cars and trucks, promoted by the automobile industry as instruments of progress. Massive expenditures for highway construction to support the new one person/one car philosophy of transportation followed. If you increase reliance on the internal combustion engine which depends on oil and oil alone, then pass laws to make it unprofitable to acquire the fuel for it ourselves, you inevitably increase reliance on oil for gasoline from outside our own resources. Electricity can come from a variety of power sources. Gasoline cannot. Then, what's fun is our politicians blame the American people for being greedy pigs and driving cars too much. Everything the government meddles with gets screwed up. That's how wars get started - over things like resources, access to trade and transportation usually. What fools these mortals be! Congress can look to itself for the reason for our dependence on foreign oil.
1. They ban drilling
2. The passage of the Public Utility Holding Company Act by Congress forced utilities to divest themselves of streetcar lines. The newly independent lines then had to purchase electricity at full price from their former parents, shaving their already thin margins that much more and helping lead to the collapse of the electric streetcar system.
3. Many legislatures and leaders — heavily lobbied by automakers — sought to accelerate mode shift from streetcars and railroads and toward cars and trucks, promoted by the automobile industry as instruments of progress. Massive expenditures for highway construction to support the new one person/one car philosophy of transportation followed.

If you increase reliance on the internal combustion engine which depends on oil and oil alone, then pass laws to make it unprofitable to acquire the fuel for it ourselves, you inevitably increase reliance on oil for gasoline from outside our own resources.

Electricity can come from a variety of power sources. Gasoline cannot.

Then, what’s fun is our politicians blame the American people for being greedy pigs and driving cars too much.

Everything the government meddles with gets screwed up. That’s how wars get started – over things like resources, access to trade and transportation usually.

What fools these mortals be!

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