Liberal Talk Radio

There’s a great Tucker Carlson article from a couple of years back (reprinted here) where he attempts to convince the Democrats that they’ve lost their sense of humor: too self-serious, too PC, etc. It’s a funny piece. But there’s a gem in there that’s been in the back of my mind since I first read it:

[Former Presidential candidate Dick Gepardt] should head to the steps of the Department of Energy, to unveil his party’s plan to develop alternative energy sources. Cynics will expect the usual dopey ”No Nukes, Go Solar” slogans of the 70’s. Gephardt should surprise them by framing the issue from the right, as a matter of urgent national security: energy independence as a weapon in the war against terrorism. He ought to make open-minded noises about nuclear power, just to prove he’s serious. In the months after Sept. 11, Gephardt called for another Manhattan Project to develop new energy sources, like hydrogen fuel cells. He hasn’t said much about it since. He should.

And he should hurry. It can’t be long before the president comes out with his own plan to develop alternatives to fossil fuels. Imagine it: an oilman pledges to wean America from oil. It’s brilliant. Bush will do it. He isn’t stupid. Which is something else Democrats ought to remember.

Well, it’s been a couple of years, but we may actually be seeing the beginnings of the Bush plan, and it has two main components: ethanol and nuclear (umm… does that mean he’s going to butcher that word more than a few times tonight?). They’re worth parsing separately, because right now there’s a difference between energy policy (where electricity comes from) and oil policy (which moves vehicles and, to a lesser extent, heats houses). We may see these converge down the road (so to speak) as fuel cells and other means of powering cars via electricity become more mainstream.

But for now, the issues are more or less independent, since solving one doesn’t really solve the other. Even if we convert our electricity production from (primarily) coal to a mix of nuclear, wind, and hydro, we still need oil for our cars and planes. That’s where ethanol comes in. I’m a little suspicious of ethanol thus far because it relies on cheap corn, and cheap corn in turn relies on petroleum-based fertilizers, so we’re back to square one. But perhaps someone out there can convince me otherwise.

In either case, it should be an interesting speech tonight.