Here’s USA Today on the Bush administration’s latest missive on global warming:

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is worried about missing out on a bonanza of oil and other resources in the Arctic unless Congress approves a treaty that helps determine who has rights to the area’s wealth.

Arctic sea ice has decreased nearly 20% in the last two decades as the Earth’s climate warms, making access to the area easier. The eight countries bordering the region, including the USA, are now staking competing claims.

Oh, wait. That’s not their take on global warming — it’s their take on how to get more oil thanks to the ice that is melting because the globe is getting warmer (unrelated to global warming). Funny, because I just saw a movie in which the villains kind of think like this (until they mend their ways due to an inspiring penguin dance routine).

Point is, this story has helped me to develop a theory.

It’s a cycle that goes like this:

Fossil fuel abuse -> Global warming -> Melting ice -> Access to a little more oil -> Re-Kindling of Idiot Flame -> Fossil fuel abuse

And so on. I was looking for a name for it and since the acronym FGMARF is a little cumbersome, I’ve decided to call it the “Clear Skies Act.” Catchy, right?

Oh, and not too long ago, I’d posted the music video for “The Message” on this blog. Watching “Happy Feet,” I was pretty blown away when I saw this:

This raises a ton of issues for me, but I think the biggest issue is: WHAT?

Back to the glacial apocalypse (ah, puns!) — is it possible we should be looking for a way to be a leader on the melting Arctic in a let’s-save-it kind of way rather than a hey-you-gonna-eat-that kind of way.

The headline used by USA Today, “White House sees black gold in melting sea ice,” is pretty misleading, too. It implies — by using the term “black gold,” which is pretty well known as a line from the theme of the “Beverly Hillbillies” TV show — that our administration is bumbling. Hardly at all! This is intentional. Maybe even nefarious?

In the song, Jed Clampett is out shootin’ at some food when up from the ground comes a-bubblin’ crude (oil, that is). He stumbles across the oil when trying to provide for himself. These jokers are literally killing people for it, and killing the environment for it, and pretty much celebrating all of it. Maybe if the line was “shootin’ at some dudes” or “ignorin’ global responsibilities” or “bringin’ forth the end of the world” or something.

Technorati tags: [ global warming | global warmin’ | happy feet | penguins ]