Zaphod for President

Chris Dodd voted in favor of the Iraq War, and in favor of reauthorizing the Patriot Act. He’s another warmongering Democrat who now regrets sending our troops to die while killing Iraqi civilians. Just like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, Dodd saved all of his anti-Iraq rhetoric until long after he had already enabled the greatest geopolitical disaster of our generation.

Rational minds agree: the root cause of the current Iraq War is America’s dependence on foreign oil. And per usual, as this meme becomes the latest craze of our collective conciousness, Dodd is poised and ready to cash-in (politically) on our latest fears and misunderstandings.

Chris Dodd wants you to make him our next President so that he might execute The Dodd Energy Plan. What would this accomplish?

1. Reduce 80% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

2. Eliminate our dependence on Middle East oil by 2015

3. Create American jobs vis-a-vis domestic energy production

These are wonderful goals, but how does Dodd intend to achieve them? As best as I can tell: self-delusion.

First on the agenda, Dodd supports cap-and-trade, but remains vague in regards to enforcement. Specifically: what does he intend to do when companies ignore it?

In addition to “cap-and-trade”, Dodd also supports the carbon tax, which is more commonly discussed as an alternative to “cap-and-trade”, not as a supplement to it. Both methods are complex, and deserve a dedicated post sometime in the near-future. For now, let’s keep focus on Dodd.

Dodd’s plan relies a great deal on improving the efficiency of consumer products. He supports biofuel and hybrid cars, and proposes a new 50 mpg standard by 2017.

So where is the delusion? Non-linear time.

Says Dodd: by 2017, our cars will be upgraded; by 2020, 20% of our energy will be renewable; by 2010 we must freeze our electricity usage through efficiency.

Once again: by 2010 we must “peak” our electricity usage, despite a population growing at about 1% per year, despite the fact this his other reforms will remain almost a decade away. How are we to achieve this? Efficiency. Who is to provide this new efficiency? Companies. Which companies? Those required to comply with “cap-and-trade” and “carbon tax” regulations.

Simply stated: the goals are admirable, but the plan amounts to little more than vague campaign promises.

And being that I’ve beaten the entire “Iraq War/Patriot Act/Won’t Get Fooled Again” cliche into the ground, I’ll close with some appropriate lyrics from Creedence Clearwater Revival:

Some folks are born to wave the flag,
Ooh, they’re red, white and blue.
And when the band plays “Hail to the chief”,
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, son.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no,
Yeah!

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