Energy Crisis Part II

George W. Bush's covert connection to the California energy crisis is unraveling as Republicans are about to introduce a 250-page-plus bill on energy. While all the specifics have not been revealed yet, what is clear is that the GOP is putting forward an unprecedented pro US oil corporation bill in the name of securing our energy. This bill is on their front burner for passage and they will be exploiting the California crisis every step of the way.

The bill to be introduced next week by Senator Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is called the National Security Energy Act. The GOP push includes Majority Whip of the House, Tom DeLay (R-Texas), being put in charge of coordinating energy legislation there.

If adopted, the legislation will open the doors wide for US oil corporations to amass super profits. The bill aims to reduce US importing of oil from the Arab nations and replace it with good ol' US corporate oil. The bill also calls for opening up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling -- what Dubya has called the cornerstone of moving away from reliance on foreign oil.

Huge tax cuts (incentives) await US oil and energy corporations in the legislation. A provision is written to have the federal government pay half the cost of installing clean-coal technology in power plants, and another to renew royalty payment relief to oil companies that drill deep-water wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

It is more than interesting that Iraq was bombed right before this omnibus bill appears. About 750,000 barrels of oil a day come to the US from Iraq. Creating an evil empire before the eyes of America in order to smooth the way for corporate America oil profiteering has been done before. George Bush, Sr. is an expert at it.

Murkowski told the media, "We're 56% dependent on imported oil in this country. How much further does it have to go before our national energy security is at risk?"

That is ironic, considering that there is nothing in the proposed bill which will help secure California out of its energy crisis. No caps on wholesale prices are proposed for Southern power generating companies that are making record breaking profits while manipulating supply to California's consumers. No caps on gas companies that are doubling and tripling their rates across the nation. Where is the security for US people from these corporate energy rip offs? Instead, like Arab countries have been demonized in order to justify war for US oil corporation profits, the California crisis will be demonized to justify Republican pro oil and gas magnate legislation.

The GOP will stick to their false story that California Democrats and regulators caused the crisis in California. They will play down the fault of deregulation, which was driven by former Republican Governor Pete Wilson and Dubya's main California man today, Republican Senator James Brulte, the author of deregulation legislation.

Bush and Cheney will continue to cover up their total connection to the Southern-based power cartel, led by the Enron Corporation based in Houston, which are making hand over foot profits off the misery of California consumers. Californians sense the underhanded role of power generating companies and utilities -- that is why 57% of them polled last week don't believe there are real shortages. Californians disapprove of Bush's handling of the California energy crisis but they do not yet fully realize that it is his administration that is totally connected to helping the power cartel rip off California and the whole country.

Lest one forget, George Bush, Sr., prior to becoming president, was the head of the CIA. The CIA is expert at manipulating supply of natural resources as a key strategic maneuver to starve the enemy and win wars. California is the latest victim of the "energy corporation vs. the people" war.

The signs were all there for this scenario. The oil industry pumped in over $1.5 million into George W.'s campaign. Bush's transition team for the Department of Energy was almost exclusively made up of people affiliated with or working for the extractive energy industry. Those companies included: Phillips Petroleum, Enron, Kennecott, Southern California Edison, the National Mining Association and the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Bush's economic summit, held earlier this month in Austin, was actually a get-together with business leaders. The Austin meeting featured 36 top corporate executives, including such major Republican donors as Kenneth Lay of Enron, John T. Chambers of Cisco and Michael Dell of Dell Computer. What is developing is a Bush/GOP full front press for adopting energy policy that will give the oil and energy corporations the bank at the expense of the people and energy resources of our country. Their mission is also global, their target--the world. (For more on this, see next week's third part on the energy crisis.)

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