Is ABC News Owned By An Oil Company?

Last night, I watched World News Tonight with Charles Gibson (http://abcnews.go.com/WN/). There was a report on the price of gasoline possibly falling as demand from the United States has been reduced. The reporter said it was good news as people who’ve stopped driving as much—and taking the bus or riding their bikes—can start driving again.

Say what?

I agree that it’s good news for our wallets, but it’s absolutely terrible news for Mother Nature if everyone goes back to mindless use of a polluting (and limited) resource.

There’s a lesson here. A big lesson. We literally can’t go on the way we’ve been living for decades. If we celebrate a 10 cent gas price reduction by trading in our bus pass for our driver’s license, we’ve missed the point of that lesson.

And we all know what happens when we ignore Mother Nature. She will, ultimately, win. Just look at the flooding, the hurricanes, and tornados, the heat waves, the tsunamis, the earthquakes, and the water shortages (to name just a few things) and you’ll be reminded that she has all the power.

We just use our power mindlessly.

World News Tonight with Charles Gibson then had Al Gore (http://www.algore.com/) on the broadcast, talking about the challenge he issued yesterday. Gore is seeking to shed some reason on the energy debate by showing the ridiculousness of off-shore drilling and he’s challenged the US to shift its entire electricity sector to solar, geothermal, and wind power within 10 years and to use that green power to “fuel” a fleet of hybrid vehicles.

When the reporter asked him why off-shore drilling isn’t an option, he said something along the lines of (and I’m paraphrasing here), “We’ve had an oil crisis for 35 years. Thinking the same approaches that haven’t worked for three decades are going to work now is foolish. It’s trying to boost confidence with something that isn’t going to work.”

And then the camera went back to Gibson. His comment? That if we rose to Gore’s challenge, the country would spend oodles of money (okay, I’m paraphrasing again). And that was it.

[Sigh.]

I’m thinking of the time when Oprah pointed out the cons of eating meat and was sued by the meat industry. Is network news afraid of being sued by the oil industry? Gibson’s only comment was that Gore’s idea will cost money! I’m outraged that Gibson and his team—and the US government—can’t see that not following Gore’s idea is already costing oodles of money and human life.

Question of the blog: If gas prices fall, will you abandon any green steps you’d taken?