What the cat dragged in

Are Americans uncharitable, greedy and selfish?

Maybe not.

One thing they (and we*) certainly are, though, is Oil Pigs.

John Quiggin's recent piece on Will the oil run out is definitely worth reading, but I think that he leaves an awful lot dangling in the last seven words of this paragraph:

Similar points apply to the supposed vulnerability of the West to the cutting off of oil supplies. An embargo similar to that imposed by OPEC in 1973 might necessitate some form of rationing, but this is scarcely the ‘moral equivalent of war’. It makes no sense to maintain military preparations for a possibility that could be dealt with by reducing consumption.

With the proliferation of 4WDs/SUVs over the last decade, we are not even in the ballpark of levelling, much less reducing consumption of oil.


Update 16 May 2004

Well said, Margo Kingston.


* Australians are the world's number two consumers of oil, per capita.