[IP] more on The Long Emergency

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gordon C. Thomasson, Ph.D." <gthomas1@stny.rr.com>
Date: July 17, 2005 6:55:55 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on The Long Emergency


Hate to be the party pooper-historian, but don't blame the boomer/ 
hippie/yuppies.  There was, until Reagan-Republicans (the same crowd  
that run the White House now) were bought/bribed by American-junk car  
manufacturers, something called the CAFE standard, that mandated  
increasing Automotive Fuel Efficiency.  Since foreign manufacturers  
were on track to meeting it and US industry wasn't interested, Reagan  
simply killed it [Presto: instead of conservation and alternative  
power, energy crisis for the 21st century].  Before CAFE was killed  
there was quite a bit of concern.  But the blame for killing CAFE  
goes to a generation in power before the boomers had even sobered up  
from the 1960s, let alone exerted a substantial impact on the ballot  
box.
Gordon C. Thomasson


> ...
> "During the Clinton presidency, baby-boomer hippies had matured  
> into  yuppies who enjoyed the benefits of cheap oil so much (and  
> were so  spoiled by it) that they fell easily into a consensus  
> trance  regarding America's energy future: party on.





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