Computer Call about the Oil Companies

I received a call from Harris Miller's campaign for US Senator from Virginia at 2006 April 26 19:38. It came on my Caller ID as “Unavailable”, and was a computer call urging me to vote for Miller and help us beat George Allen. I wish these campaigns would not send out computer phone calls? I don’t appreciate them. They bittering my phone and disturb what I am doing. Normally, this would mean the candidate would not get my vote. But there is no way I will vote for George Allen - the worst governor Virginia has had since 1978. I don't like the idea of voting for a third party either - I feel that Sen. Allen must be removed from office. Especially I don’t want George Allen to repeat his term as senator and thereby become a possible Presidential candidate in 2008. But there are ways of sending him back to his home without throwing unsolicited computer calls on my telephone.

I also did not like some of what I heard the message say. The Miller camp said “Stand up to Big Oil.” Now Big Oil is no saint. But attacking oil companies because of record high profits and high gasoline prices is not the right approach to the problem. The oil companies can’t help it if they have all that money. It is because of supply and demand – increasing demand (especially because of China and India) and limited and tight supply are causing the prices to go up and the profits of the oil companies to go up. The problem is that the world is nearing a peak in oil production, and soon world production will decline despite all the desperate drilling in the world. Instead of attacking the oil companies, the Democrats should encourage conservation of oil – car pools, hybrid, diesel, and plugin hybrid cars, and railroads – and development of wind, solar, and (at least for a while) nuclear energy, as well as high taxes on fuel to curb demand, along with substantially lower income and other taxes. This is a problem that confronts all of us, including the oil companies, and I feel that an approach urging these things as well as cooperating with the oil companies and others concerned with this problem will yield better results in the long run.

I also would like to see talk about peak oil and its consequences. So far I have not heard a single Democrat say that the world is headed for trouble because of the peaking of oil production. However, at least one Republican has, namely Repv. Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland. If he were running instead of George Allen here in Virginia, I would vote for him, and if Mr. Bartlett runs for President, he has my vote, even though he will be 82 years old.

So please, Mr. Miller, if you want to be serious about beating both the oil crisis and George Allen, start talking to us about the possible consequences of big oil.

And when you call, have a human call. OK? Thanks.