Foreign Policy Blogs

Fossil Fuels = Addiction

I wouldn’t be the first person to analogize Americans’ thirst to fossil fuels to an addiction.  The arch-environmentalist George W. Bush said the US was “addicted to oil” in his State of the Union address in 2006.  What we do for the Mexican drug gangs in terms of addiction to their products while advancing their bank accounts and undermining the rule of law both south and north of the border, we also do for OPEC, the Canadian tar sands producers, and our friends at BP, ExxonMobil and those other good folks so concerned with preserving the climate system, the public health and the environment, consumers’ pocket books and the country’s balance of trade.

Here’s a take from my brothers and sisters at the Post Carbon Institute.  They are among those “…leading the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world.”  You may not agree with all of the conclusions here, but it’s a concise, largely accurate, punchy and beautifully made video.

 

Author

Bill Hewitt

Bill Hewitt has been an environmental activist and professional for nearly 25 years. He was deeply involved in the battle to curtail acid rain, and was also a Sierra Club leader in New York City. He spent 11 years in public affairs for the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, and worked on environmental issues for two NYC mayoral campaigns and a presidential campaign. He is a writer and editor and is the principal of Hewitt Communications. He has an M.S. in international affairs, has taught political science at Pace University, and has graduate and continuing education classes on climate change, sustainability, and energy and the environment at The Center for Global Affairs at NYU. His book, "A Newer World - Politics, Money, Technology, and What’s Really Being Done to Solve the Climate Crisis," will be out from the University Press of New England in December.



Areas of Focus:
the policy, politics, science and economics of environmental protection, sustainability, energy and climate change

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