May 19, 2006
Al Gore is staging a comeback of sorts. He's touring the country promoting his propaganda crock-umentary, An Inconvenient Truth . Like Fahrenheit 9/11 . this movie hopes to re-write the truth in an effort to catapult Spotted Al to the top of the heap in '08. Unlike Fahrenheit 9/11 , which was so over the top it ended up blowing up in the liberals' faces, Al Gore's new movie has some nicely-timed themes that just may appeal to the masses.
When 50.1% of the American people are passionate and committed and feel the sense of urgency that's appropriate here, then the political system will flip. I think we're close to a tipping point, Gore told USA Today. What's the magic issue? High gas prices. You see, Gore's movie purports to link our SUVs with so-called global warming. The very issue of global warming is suspect at best and there is absolutely no plausible link between our driving habits and any kind of climate change, however, Gore is exploiting our frustration with high gas prices.
I've maintained for years that the market will dictate the future of alternative fuels. Alternatives such as biodiesel that were looked upon as too expensive to be taken seriously when gas was at a buck-fifty a gallon are now beginning to look inviting. Many experts say biodiesel made from used vegetable oil collected from restaurants, among other sources will sell for around $2 per gallon on the open market. But, I've talked to farmers who already make their own fuel and their cost is closer to 50 to 70 cents per gallon. Once such a fuel is mass marketed, the price will naturally come down somewhere between that $2 figure and the farmers' cost to make it.
In the meantime, Gore is promoting biodiesel and other fuel alternatives via his hyped-up movie and positioning himself as the man as president who would wean us off the opium of foreign oil and make us energy independent. As Americans shell out $60 just to fill up the tank, such talk has become more and more attractive.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not poo-pooing the idea of alternative fuels. In fact, I'm about to embark on a biodiesel experiment on my radio show to see if I can become energy independent. The difference is, I believe the market drives this sort of activity. As the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. I'm looking to biodiesel simply because I want to thumb my nose at the oil companies. The fact that it's a cleaner-burning fuel is merely icing on the cake.
Don't forget, it was Al Gore in his 1992 book, Earth In The Balance , who actually advocated $3-a-gallon gas prices as a way of moving the American public to alternative fuels. Now that it's here, Gore and other radical dirt people throw stones at the oil companies for terrorizing the poor when, in fact, this is what they wanted all along. They, however, wanted to drive the price up with taxes in order to grow the government and push us toward a federally mandated reduction in the use of fossil fuels. That part may slip through their fingers.
Here's how the scenario is shaping up. Instead of moving to tax alternative fuels like biodiesel, the government is offering tax incentives to those who make it. If a sizeable number of Americans move toward alternative fuels, taxes derived from gas will actually shrink, in essence downsizing government. In the meantime, Al Gore will position himself as the candidate for energy independence. Between now and '08 it's America In The Balance .