Bob McCarty Writes

Eight days ago, I wrote and published a post, Open Letter to Airline Customers Misses Mark, in which I explained how I had cast aside my initial inclination to side with airline executives on the matter of oil speculators in favor of Hugh Hewitt’s more-sensible stance on the issue. Today, I found yet another solid basis for my opposition to the Stop Oil Speculation Now (a.k.a., “SOS Now”) movement.

I found that “solid basis” in the form of a communication — which served as the cornerstone of a Peter Robinson post, What Needs to Be Stopped is “Stop Oil Speculation Now,” published Friday at The Corner on National Review Online — from George Savage to the Airline Owners and Pilots Association.

The first paragraph of Savage’s message (below) was spot-on, able to stand on its own:

SOS Now proposes to address the fuel shortage caused by government intervention in the domestic energy market through more government intervention in the domestic energy market; on its face, hardly a recipe for success…

…while the last paragraph (below) shot straight to the heart of the matter:

Self-interest is at work here. Politicians want money and political support from the green lobby. Green venture capitalists, like Kleiner Perkins general partner Al Gore, stand to make billions of dollars on “cleantech” investments, but only if oil prices continue to climb. A lot of venture portfolios are in trouble the day after Congress permits unfettered domestic oil exploration. And these folks are nothing if not well-connected.

Good job, Mr. Savage, Indeed! Stop Oil Speculation Now!