Lady Fruitcake & the Energy Spiel

Tallyho - Michelle Bachman, my dear Lady Fruitcake, is off again. First it was $2 a gallon gasoline that President Bachmann would bring back, now she's dropped into the eternal uber-conservative's fantasy of Infinite Domestic Energy Through Better Extractive Industry. See following quote.

"The United States is the number one country in the world for energy resources," the Minnesota congresswoman (Ms. Bachmann) told a central Florida town hall meeting, arguing that in shale deposits alone the U.S. easily outstrips the total oil supply of Saudi Arabia. "That doesn't even include ... all the oil in Alaska."

Never mind that working a shale deposit require millions of gallons of water and even further energy expenditure to wring from the groaning earth some few tablespoons of very crude oil which may arguably power several camping lanterns in the United States for a day or two. I exaggerate for effect, but you get the picture.

They want to start sucking out shale oil right here in my Pretty, Great Although Slightly Wacko State of Utah. It's a desert, part of the dry and getting drier basin and range system so memorably written of by John McPhee in his book, "Basin and Range." We're already about to go to war with Nevada over their plan to siphon the water from under the Snake Valley, thus causing it to either collapse into the mother of all sinkholes or else blow away and deposit several feet of dust on the Salt Lake Valley (where, let me tell ya, we got sufficient problems already with chunky air).

Here's what it looks like so far...

Isn't that special??? Utah is justly renowned for rugged, wild landscapes, both desert and mountain. This here operation somehow just does not quite sing "tourists - ka-ching!" to me, but hey I'm just a crabby old lady.

Here's some more - tar sand operations in Canada? Got ugly?

For more skinny, together with righteous outrage, go here (they are smarter and better-informed than I am): http://www.theecologist.org/investigations/energy/304963/tar_sands_tearing_the_flesh_from_the_earth.html.

Lady Fruitcake wants all of y'all to share these wonders! Isn't she the bee's knees, and a real Suzerain of Short-Term Gain, to be followed by long-term and likely unending regret?  So sad when one can only hope that the outlandish Bushoid likes of Rick Perry will eclipse this very dim bulb.

Then, of course, there's Mittens Romney in the wings. This is a down-and-dirty blues song without end. I mean, I've been reasonably good, so the rest of y'all must have done something really really really bad for it to come to this. I do believe it's 5 o'clock somehwere, so if you will excuse me...