NationStates Jolt Archive

While it would be difficult to create an airtight legal case for impeaching George W. Bush based on his ignoring the very real threat posed by Peak Oil, nevertheless I believe that his actions—and inaction—in this regard constitute dereliction of duty on an unprecedented scale.

It is part of the job of leaders to foresee problems and either steer around them or prepare for them. A head of state is analogous to the captain of a ship, who is responsible not only for keeping his vessel on course but also for avoiding hazards such as storms and icebergs. Some problems are not foreseeable; others are. A ship’s captain who loses his vessel to a freak “perfect storm” may be blameless, but one who steers his passenger liner directly into a foggy ice field, having no sonar or radar, is worse than a fool: he is criminally negligent.

The argument I will make, in brief, is this:

Peak Oil is foreseeable.
The consequences are also foreseeable and are likely to be ruinous.
The Bush administration has been repeatedly warned.

Actions could be taken to reduce the impact, but the longer those actions are delayed, the worse the impact will be.
The administration, rather than taking steps to mitigate these looming catastrophic impacts, has instead done things that can only worsen them.
Let us go through these points one by one.
Here is the story. (http://www.energybulletin.net/14102.html)

Good luck trying to impeach him over an issue who's negative consequences haven't taken effect yet. The American people won't give a crap about peak oil until gas prices spike up to five dollars per gallon or so IMHO. By then the harmfull effects on the economy will be irreversable. People won't be able to make the switch to efficient cars and appliances fast enough to bring the prices under control and the sitting president at that time will take the blame.

Also he's never going to be impeached with a Republican congress. Maybe after the mid term elections. Maybe.

Stupidest reason ever. The best way to solve the peak oil crisis is to make it occur faster. The more pressure there is to do so, the more likely a viable alternative will be created.

I say we impeach bush, just so people will stop filling the forums with their reasons to impeach him

I say we impeach Russ Feingold

The story makes a fairly cogent argument. I knw it's hard to make a legal argument in terms of him breaking any law, but if you read the piece, and its not that long, you'll see he makes a preety good argument for dereliction of duty.

Stupidest reason ever. The best way to solve the peak oil crisis is to make it occur faster. The more pressure there is to do so, the more likely a viable alternative will be created.
You probably need to get a little more education under your belt. People who understand a lot more about energy and alternatives would disagree with you.
Addressing this question requires some speculation: the peaking of global oil production is an event that has never occurred before. However, we need not speculate baselessly; for guidance we have a U.S. government-funded study that could hardly be more relevant—“The Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation and Risk Management,” prepared by Science Applications International (SAIC) for the U.S. Department of Energy, released in February 2005. The project leader for the study was Robert L. Hirsch, who has had a distinguished career in formulating energy policy. The report on the study will hereinafter be referred to as “The Hirsch Report.”

The first paragraph of the Hirsch Report’s Executive Summary states:
The peaking of world oil production presents the U.S. and the world with an unprecedented risk management problem. As peaking is approached, liquid fuel prices and price volatility will increase dramatically, and, without timely mitigation, the economic, social, and political costs will be unprecedented. Viable mitigation options exist on both the supply and demand sides, but to have substantial impact, they must be initiated more than a decade in advance of peaking.
As the Hirsch Report explains in detail, due to our systemic dependence on oil for transportation, agriculture, and the production of plastics and chemicals, every sector of society will be impacted.
The Hirsch Report effectively undermines the standard free-market argument that oil depletion poses no serious problem, now or later, because as oil becomes scarcer the price will rise until demand is reduced commensurate with supply; meanwhile, higher prices will stimulate more exploration, the development of alternative fuels, and the more efficient use of remaining quantities. While it is true that rising prices will do all of these things, we have no assurance that the effects will be sufficient to avert severe, protracted economic, social, and political disruptions.