Radical Noesis - Thinking outside the box

Closed military bases?! Immediately a number of questions come to the fore. First, it probably takes several years to build a refinery so how does this address immediate cost issues? Second, are we going to just give the bases to big oil to - perhaps as an "incentive?" Third, since many military bases are in environmentally sensitive areas, what protections would be put in place. Oh, I can already guess - none.

On the "alternative" energy front is Bush's support for adding more nuclear power plants. His argument is that Nuclear power is "clean." Well, I guess that is if you don't count radiation issues, and the fact that there is still no multi-eon storage plan. As if to throw the risk factor into his face, The Guardian (4/28/05) reports that the cracks in decaying shell of Chernobyl reactor threaten second disaster. Of course, we aren't supposed to remember that one of the stated Bush concerns about the "axis of evil" is that spent fuel from nuclear power generation provides the raw material for nuclear weapons. Or that even the U.S. is having a very difficult time keeping track of "detritus" from existing nuclear plants. If nuclear power is part of the "solution" to the energy crisis, then isn't there an issue of military nuclear proliferation?

Word is that Bush is going to speak to the nation tonight at 8:00, and that this speech is being driven by the rising fuel costs. It should be entertaining to watch the Oil President, who is also a "war" President, talk about strategies to reduce the profits and control the "interests" of his "base."