Mike Huckabee on Energy Independence from Saudi Oil

So, Huckabee came out against Saudi oil:

Consumers are financing both sides in the war on terror because of the actions of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Sunday.

The former Arkansas governor made the comments following what he suggested was a muted response by the Bush administration to a Saudi court's sentence of six months in jail and 200 lashes for a woman who was gang raped.

"The United States has been far too involved in sort of looking the other way, not only at the atrocities of human rights and violation of women," Huckabee said on CNN's "Late Edition."

"Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we're paying so that the Saudis get rich - filthy, obscenely rich, and that money then ends up going to funding madrassas," schools "that train the terrorists," said Huckabee. "America has allowed itself to become enslaved to Saudi oil. It's absurd. It's embarrassing."

Huckabee said "I would make the United States energy independent within 10 years and tell the Saudis they can keep their oil just like they can keep their sand, that we won't need either one of them."

When I read this I wondered if Huckabee was for more domestic drilling, if we want to end our dependence on foreign oil, we need to drill in America (this seems to be abundantly clear to me and yet, no one is talking about it) so I checked his issues page on energy and couldn't find the word "drill" or "drilling" or domestic on the entire page. What I did find was this video:

And a whole lot of reasons for energy independence but not a clear cut plan to increase the amount of refiners or opening up drilling in the Gulf or ANWR. He wants us to start moving toward alternative forms or energy:

We have to explore, we have to conserve, and we have to pursue all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass.

It's all well and good and forward thinking to say this but what car has been mass produced to use anything but gas? You can talk about research and alternative energy and blah, blah, blah but if you have a ten year plan (that's how long Huckabee thinks it will take to accomplish his goal) to end our dependence on foreign oil, then you better have a plan that talks about opening up major sources of oil in the US because the technology is not ready to be mass produced and usable and saying that we need to switch over in the next 10 years is not going to make it happen.

BTW, when he says conserve, do you think he means voluntarily? Or mandated?

And here's something that should warm the heart of any conservative, in the video you will notice that he talks about "a stable marketplace for the alternative sources of energy some of that can be accomplished by making sure that the federal government provides for its own energy needs by purchasing some of these new and alternative forms to ensure there's a marketplace for them." Yes, the federal government will fund research and will purchase the product. Who needs the consumer?

Oil Price Rise Causes Global Shift in Wealth

I wonder if a Republican presidential candidate ran on drilling for oil in Alaska and the Gulf, would he win? I think one of the candidates should come out for drilling and see what happens. I bet if he links it the war on terror, it would resonate ("Why are we funding our the war against us?").

High oil prices are fueling one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history. Oil consumers are paying $4 billion to $5 billion more for crude oil every day than they did just five years ago, pumping more than $2 trillion into the coffers of oil companies and oil-producing nations this year alone.

The consequences are evident in minds and mortar: anger at Chinese motor-fuel pumps and inflated confidence in the Kremlin; new weapons in Chad and new petrochemical plants in Saudi Arabia; no-driving campaigns in South Korea and bigger sales for Toyota hybrid cars; a fiscal burden in Senegal and a bonanza in Brazil. In Burma, recent demonstrations were triggered by a government decision to raise fuel prices.

High oil prices are fueling one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history. Oil consumers are paying $4 billion to $5 billion more for crude oil every day than they did just five years ago, pumping more than $2 trillion into the coffers of oil companies and oil-producing nations this year alone.

The consequences are evident in minds and mortar: anger at Chinese motor-fuel pumps and inflated confidence in the Kremlin; new weapons in Chad and new petrochemical plants in Saudi Arabia; no-driving campaigns in South Korea and bigger sales for Toyota hybrid cars; a fiscal burden in Senegal and a bonanza in Brazil. In Burma, recent demonstrations were triggered by a government decision to raise fuel prices.

[...]

Two of those nations -- Iran and Venezuela -- may be better able to defy the Bush administration because of swelling oil revenue. Venezuela has used its oil wealth to dispense patronage around South America, vying for influence even with longtime U.S. allies. And Iran could be less vulnerable to sanctions designed to pressure it into giving up its nuclear program or opening it to inspection.

Read the rest here.

Clinton's solution to our dependence on foreign oil? Let's throw more money at the problem. Yes, the government is well-equipped to handle our country's energy needs. Here's her New Hampshire ad:

CLINTON: We've got to get serious about ending our dependence on foreign oil. We could create millions of new jobs through new energy.
CLINTON: Let's start investing in what I've called a strategic energy fund that will put 50 billion dollars to work with wind and solar and biofuels.
CLINTON: And where would I get the money? I would take away the tax subsidies from the oil companies. They don't need your tax dollars anymore.

A candidate from the Republican side should seize this opportunity to shape the debate in a way that will actually end our dependence on foreign oil by drilling for it ourselves. I think that's a winning message (yes, I do because deep down we say we car about the environment and yet that doesn't stop us from using private jets and driving SUVs).