What's in a name? A bit of deception when it comes to the
American Clean Energy and Security Act. A more accurate title
might be: the American Clean Energy and Less Security Act. To
get to the bottom of what's wrong with the 1,400-page energy
bill passed by the House of Representatives, you have to dig
deeper than Canada's tar sands. And what you find there is just
as sludgy - and taxing to process. Crudely refined: The greener
we are, the less secure we're likely to be. Meaning, we either
can be green or we can be less dependent on oil from terrorist-
sponsoring states. But under the current energy bill, we can't
be both. Put another way: The more we cap our carbon, the
happier the Saudis are. That's because most Middle Eastern crude
is more easily accessible and requires less processing than what
we and our friendlier neighbors can produce. If you don't know
this, it's because beer summits are more fun than math.
Herewith, a short course for word people. Basically, the energy
bill focuses primarily on statio