This makes a lot of sense.

Somehow former Vice President Al Gore had become a polarizing figure in American politics. It's kind of hard to fathom how a man with so little personality in public could be the object of so much adulation, let alone anger and contempt. Perhaps it was the incredibly refined politics of division practiced by the current administration that made Senator Gore a figure of repeated vilification by those who support the president beyond all reason. The most divisive part of Senator Gore's rhetoric in recent years has been on global warming, where even the president and most of his administration have now stopped the blizzard of lies they were producing and have admitted that global warming is a fact and that human agency is a key factor.

Anyway, I wander. To get back to what makes sense: I recently saw a part of a speech by Senator Gore where he argued that more drilling for oil in the United States (or territory controlled by the USA) would not make oil and gasoline prices fall. The argument goes like this: every time Americans grumble about high energy prices, the oil companies push for the rights to drill in every last environmentally sensitive place they find appealing. Yet, in the long run, energy prices don't go down, so what is the benefit of letting them drill off the Louisiana coast or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?

What will drive down oil prices? A real, long-term drop in demand. It's demand that made the oil prices into headlines over the last year--consumption increases in China and India and a stubborn unwillingness to conserve in the United States. It's time for us to create tax and regulatory policies that encourage efficiency and conservation to reduce our energy demand. It's a drag on our economy and a strategic nightmare to rely on nations as unstable and unsavory as Venezuela, Nigeria, or Saudi Arabia. And if we used our abundant national creativity, we cold soon lead the world in green technology--which we could then sell to like-minded nations. Do you really think China, India, and Europe enjoy sending their money to these oil states, either? I wager they'd much rather pay us.

CDs listened to today:

• Leonardo Balada: Columbus: Images for Orchestra
• Clifford Brown: Brownie Lives!
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations