Kerry: all shouting, no answers

Well, it looks like the fat lady has sung: Kerry will be the Democrats nominee. Which, much as I loathe him, is OK with me because I’m sure he’ll lose to Bush. The anchorless Democrats have picked a candidate solely because of his “electability” and Kerry is enjoying the popularity of a blank slate since nobody knows what he stands for.

Example: tonight in a victory speech Kerry was waving the bloody shirt of American military action in Iraq and swearing that he will never send an American soldier into action because of dependence on foreign oil. [I’m doing this from memory but that was the gist.] Kerry monotoned that he had a plan to reduce American dependence on foreign oil so this would never happen again.

Fine. I went to Kerry’s web site and clicked on the link reading “Reducing our dependence on foreign oil.” After some generalized statements, here’s Kerry’s plan:

We can, however, develop and deploy clean energy technologies that will make us more efficient and allow us to capitalize on domestic and renewable sources of energy. John Kerry’s plan for a renewable energy trust fund to invest in the development of renewable energy will reduce our oil dependence by more than 2 million barrels of oil a day – about the same amount we import from the Persian Gulf.

That’s the answer: we’re going to invent our way out of the problem. And what’s this nonsense about “renewable energy will reduce our oil dependence?” Nearly half the petroleum we use is refined and used for gasoline (the remainder is used in petrochemicals and heating oil). What “renewable” energy sources will replace the internal combustion engine? Also, we’ve been developing renewable energy (solar, wind) since the first oil crunch in 1973 and non-hydroelectric renewables still account for less than 1% of all energy generation in America.

For all its (perceived) faults, at least the Bush plan to inconvenience some caribou and open up ANWR is a genuine step in the right direction. As a minimum, it’s an honest answer. Kerry’s plan is pure fantasy, based on the hope that scientists will find a way to save us from the grips of OPEC. And if the scientists and engineers fail, then what will we do?

As I’ve said many times before: these are times that require clarity. On this issue and many others, John Kerry has chosen the path of moral ambiguity and vapid grandstanding.