Big Oil Myths
Mac’s series on domestic energy policy continues in today’s Providence Journal:
The attack on Big Oil is a witches’ brew of old-fashion demagoguery, economic ignorance and an apparent lack of historical perspective. To the degree that this attack is successful in punishing the oil and gas industry, it will ensure that Americans will be worse off in the future.
Street talk and news reports are already predicting $6 a gallon gasoline with the first hurricane in the Gulf of Mexican shutting down off-shore oil rigs and refineries. Atlantic hurricane season is projected to be very active this year.
Two of my neighborhood gasoline stations are still at $3.99 a gallon unleaded regular self serve (there is a refinery 20 miles away). My bank issues free 10 cents off a gallon credit card good for a year to customers and my average gasoline monthly bill is only $60. My car gets 40 mpg.
Once gasoline nears $7 a gallon I might start to take notice (an every 20 min bus stop is 50 yards from my home). My city has a nationally recognized mass transit system which includes hybrid buses and commuter boats. The city is adding a $3.7 billion elevated light rail system (pre-paid) and was just ranked #1 in USA for having smallest carbon foot print of all US cities (police cars have hybrid engines also).
@ken
Honolulu?
Roberts,
Yes Honolulu.
Mac,
“Mackubin Thomas Owens is a professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College and editor of Orbis, the quarterly journal of the Foreign Policy Research Institute”
Does the United State Department of Defense, the United States Navy and the President of the Naval War College review your publications granting permission for you to represent and publish opinions on behalf on the US Department of Defense, US Navy and US Naval War College?
While we’re apologizing for Big Oil…
Chilling article in last Sunday’s ProJo about ExxonMobil is sticking it to its franchisees, dictating the price they sell it at and squeezing their profit margins beyond credibility. Why would anybody want to go into that business with Exxon exercising such top-down control?
And people think unions are the biggest threat facing small businesspeople (this is a non-unionized business).
rhody,
It’s call “Free Market”
In this case, free market not only screws the consumer, it screws the local small businessman who actually provides the service.
The oil companies love to moan about not having the refinery capacity. With record profits, they can’t invest in building more? In Texas, they don’t have no stinking environmental laws to stop them.
Ken,
What you’re referring to is merely a full disclosure on the part of the Projo. No where in the opinion piece does it state that Mac is representing anyone other than himself.
BobC,
When the US Naval War College and National Security is tagged to his name he is representing the views of the United State Department of Defense, the United States Navy and the President of the Naval War College.
When I was at Newport I was published and had to have my magazine articles cleared by US Navy and Washington before printing.
If you reference your GSA job and military, you must get anything you publish cleared.
ADDENDUM,
BobC,
ADDED:
Federal rule is you shall not use your federal position for personal gain either primary or secondary to the fact.
Every article MAC publishes in public and uses his GSA position at the Naval War College, US Navy and Department of Defense to add credibility to what he has written he enhances contributions and remunerations for serves as editor of Orbis, the quarterly journal of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Ken
I have been writing pieces for 21 years for the ProJo and other publications. The position of the Naval War College has been that what I do is covered by academic freedom. When I wrote my first piece for the Wall Street Journal several years ago, I added a disclaimer to the effect that my opinions did not necessarily reflect those of the Naval War College, the Department of the Navy, or the Defense Department. The op-ed editor at the time told me that the WSJ did not run disclaimers. He added, “no one is going to confuse you with the secretary of defense.”
Many years ago, some genius in the DoD of the first Bush administration came up with the bright idea that all pubs by War College faculty would have to be scrubbed for policy. As soon as he got wind of the policy proposal, Joe Strasser, then the president of NWC, got on an airplane to DC to point out to those brainiacs that such a policy would ensure that the result would be a fifth-rate faculty. The policy was never put in place.
Ken
I have been writing pieces for 21 years for the ProJo and other publications. The position of the Naval War College has been that what I do is covered by academic freedom. When I wrote my first piece for the Wall Street Journal several years ago, I added a disclaimer to the effect that my opinions did not necessarily reflect those of the Naval War College, the Department of the Navy, or the Defense Department. The op-ed editor at the time told me that the WSJ did not run disclaimers. He added, “no one is going to confuse you with the secretary of defense.”
Many years ago, some genius in the DoD of the first Bush administration came up with the bright idea that all pubs by War College faculty would have to be scrubbed for policy. As soon as he got wind of the policy proposal, Joe Strasser, then the president of NWC, got on an airplane to DC to point out to those brainiacs that such a policy would ensure that the result would be a fifth-rate faculty. The policy was never put in place.