Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 11:11pm
Convenient Lies Trump Inconvenient Truths
Column: Spiritual Psychology
Break out the champagne. That’s what Wall Street did a few days ago when oil fell below $118 a barrel. Some optimists were predicting that it could go as low as $100 a barrel. Wow, what a miracle. Forget that just a decade ago oil was $10 a barrel, and today’s levels were unimaginable.
Oops, yesterday oil rose to over $120 a barrel bringing the corks back into the champagne bottles. Hold on, don't push that cork in too deeply, oil fell under $116 today.
I hope the price doesn't drop significantly lower. We've been through that drill before in the late 1970’s when everyone cheered the return to reasonable levels for oil after the pain of historic highs. In the euphoric relief, the initiatives to free us from dependence on fossil fuel were abandoned. We were back in the clutches of the oil Lords, setting us up for the present crisis.
Today we face the same dangerous manipulation of lulling the public into complacency. The enthusiasm and momentum for a crash program—an “Energy Manhattan Project”— may then recede to the back burner only to resurface when it may be too late to bail us out economically, or to save the planet from pollution and climate change.
This crisis will not go away, nor will a temporary dip in demand for oil put the crisis to bed. Beware! Arithmetic is against us—and in this case arithmetic is destiny. Just add up the numbers. With eventually billions of Indians, Chinese and others joining the automobile ownership club, demand for oil cannot decrease. And competition for a finite product can only drive prices higher. Worse, proliferation of autos will further pollute the atmosphere. How many warnings do we need?
In recent months, in preparation for the Olympics, the Chinese closed down industries to cover up the vast pollution in Beijing. Four U.S. cyclists arrived in Beijing for the games and walked through the new airport terminal wearing masks to protect them from air pollution. Unfortunately, after meeting with the chief of sport performance for the U.S. Olympic Committee they were persuaded to apologize in the interest of diplomatic correctness. Fact is, though, that athletes need clean air—oxygen—for optimal performance; and Beijing is not the location of choice for breathing. Yet Beijing is just one example of massive pollution of the atmosphere in major cities throughout the world. The situation can only worsen as convenient lies, denials and economic interests override inconvenient truths. Once the Olympic Games in Beijing are over, and the pollution blurred eyes are looking elsewhere, it will be back to business as usual for China—pouring poisons into the atmosphere with little concern for the future of the planet.
Who will lead us to the promised land of clean energy and independence from fossil fuel?
Recently, Al Gore passionately urged John McCain, Barack Obama, and Congress to initiate a crash program for clean energy within a decade. Both candidates made knee jerk endorsements of Al Gore’s proposal, but the pushes and pulls of politics turned them to other issues that are more likely to get them votes. Both shifted their views to endorse more drilling to ease prices and hopefully pump up more votes. This despite warnings from scientists and others including oilman T. Boone Pickens who has firmly declared that we are not going to drill our way out of this crisis.
Al Gore came down from the mountain with the messianic message. Why do we still believe that those worshipping the golden calf (politicians and Congress) will save us?
Al Gore where are you?
In my next Column I’ll address the question of why the government sponsored projects to develop the atomic bomb and land a man on the moon worked magnificently and why a government sponsored “Energy Manhattan Project” today will not work and would likely be riddled with corruption and narrow thinking.
…………………………
In case you missed my last four Columns on the "Energy Manhattan Project" click below:
Let’s Launch and Energy Manhattan Project Now: Open Letter To Lee Iacocca
The Suicide Bombing Of Science
Two Weapons Of Mass Destruction That Threaten Us: Ignorance And Inaction
Al Gore: This Is Your Destiny
— — —
(My recently published book "Escape Your Own Prison: Why We Need Spirituality and Psychology to be Truly Free" is published by Rowman and Littlefield (Oct. 2007) and is now available at Amazon.com,Barnes & Noble.com and other major book outlets.)
— — —
Bernard Starr, Ph.D., formerly professor of developmental and educational psychology at the City University of New York, now teaches “Spirituality and Psychology in Film” at Marymount Manhattan College. In addition to his work in radio (“The Longevity Report”), he is a longtime contributor of commentary and opinion articles to numerous major publications. He is also the President of the Association for Spirituality and Psychotherapy and is the main United Nations representative for the Institute of Global Education that founded the Mucherla Global School in Mucherla, India. © Copyright 2008 by Bernard Starr.
Oops, yesterday oil rose to over $120 a barrel bringing the corks back into the champagne bottles. Hold on, don't push that cork in too deeply, oil fell under $116 today.
I hope the price doesn't drop significantly lower. We've been through that drill before in the late 1970’s when everyone cheered the return to reasonable levels for oil after the pain of historic highs. In the euphoric relief, the initiatives to free us from dependence on fossil fuel were abandoned. We were back in the clutches of the oil Lords, setting us up for the present crisis.
Today we face the same dangerous manipulation of lulling the public into complacency. The enthusiasm and momentum for a crash program—an “Energy Manhattan Project”— may then recede to the back burner only to resurface when it may be too late to bail us out economically, or to save the planet from pollution and climate change.
This crisis will not go away, nor will a temporary dip in demand for oil put the crisis to bed. Beware! Arithmetic is against us—and in this case arithmetic is destiny. Just add up the numbers. With eventually billions of Indians, Chinese and others joining the automobile ownership club, demand for oil cannot decrease. And competition for a finite product can only drive prices higher. Worse, proliferation of autos will further pollute the atmosphere. How many warnings do we need?
In recent months, in preparation for the Olympics, the Chinese closed down industries to cover up the vast pollution in Beijing. Four U.S. cyclists arrived in Beijing for the games and walked through the new airport terminal wearing masks to protect them from air pollution. Unfortunately, after meeting with the chief of sport performance for the U.S. Olympic Committee they were persuaded to apologize in the interest of diplomatic correctness. Fact is, though, that athletes need clean air—oxygen—for optimal performance; and Beijing is not the location of choice for breathing. Yet Beijing is just one example of massive pollution of the atmosphere in major cities throughout the world. The situation can only worsen as convenient lies, denials and economic interests override inconvenient truths. Once the Olympic Games in Beijing are over, and the pollution blurred eyes are looking elsewhere, it will be back to business as usual for China—pouring poisons into the atmosphere with little concern for the future of the planet.
Who will lead us to the promised land of clean energy and independence from fossil fuel?
Recently, Al Gore passionately urged John McCain, Barack Obama, and Congress to initiate a crash program for clean energy within a decade. Both candidates made knee jerk endorsements of Al Gore’s proposal, but the pushes and pulls of politics turned them to other issues that are more likely to get them votes. Both shifted their views to endorse more drilling to ease prices and hopefully pump up more votes. This despite warnings from scientists and others including oilman T. Boone Pickens who has firmly declared that we are not going to drill our way out of this crisis.
Al Gore came down from the mountain with the messianic message. Why do we still believe that those worshipping the golden calf (politicians and Congress) will save us?
Al Gore where are you?
In my next Column I’ll address the question of why the government sponsored projects to develop the atomic bomb and land a man on the moon worked magnificently and why a government sponsored “Energy Manhattan Project” today will not work and would likely be riddled with corruption and narrow thinking.
…………………………
In case you missed my last four Columns on the "Energy Manhattan Project" click below:
Let’s Launch and Energy Manhattan Project Now: Open Letter To Lee Iacocca
The Suicide Bombing Of Science
Two Weapons Of Mass Destruction That Threaten Us: Ignorance And Inaction
Al Gore: This Is Your Destiny
— — —
(My recently published book "Escape Your Own Prison: Why We Need Spirituality and Psychology to be Truly Free" is published by Rowman and Littlefield (Oct. 2007) and is now available at Amazon.com,Barnes & Noble.com and other major book outlets.)
— — —
Bernard Starr, Ph.D., formerly professor of developmental and educational psychology at the City University of New York, now teaches “Spirituality and Psychology in Film” at Marymount Manhattan College. In addition to his work in radio (“The Longevity Report”), he is a longtime contributor of commentary and opinion articles to numerous major publications. He is also the President of the Association for Spirituality and Psychotherapy and is the main United Nations representative for the Institute of Global Education that founded the Mucherla Global School in Mucherla, India. © Copyright 2008 by Bernard Starr.