From whence commeth the new technologies? Not from the entrenched establishment.

Joe Costello of Ofbyandfor makes a good point:

The Chronicle has an important piece for nothing more than how wrong the author is. He claims we shouldn't tax the oil companies and instead, "oil companies must invest more in alternative and renewable energy sources that would help wean us from our fossil-fuel jones."

This is ludicrous. Why in the hell should people who extract oil and natural gas be relied on to develop things they know nothing about? This is the idea of perpetual corporations, which in this case because they've monopolized a fuel source that has become invaluable to present lifestyles they now deserve for some inane reason to be counted on to develop new sources.

The oil companies are going to reap massive profits no matter what, the less oil, the more they're going to make, until some viable alternative. Relying on the oil companies, who know nothing except oil and natural gas to come up with alternatives is ridiculous. This has now been proved for 30 years, in fact, the oil companies have with the help of their bought and paid for bipartisan political servants actively quashed alternatives and efficiency.

Tax oil, give them a five percent profit, and make the money available not to federal bureaucracies but to efficiency, public transportation, alternatives etc.. We really need to start thinking creatively and abandon our myths, no matter how cherished or powerful.

Did the steamboat companies invent and promote the railroads? Did the railroads invent and promote the auto and the truck? Did the auto companies invent and promote the airliness? As far as I know, the answer in all those cases and many more is a resounding NO. There is absolutely no reason why the oil companies are going to invent and promote the alternatives to oil -- even if it is in their best long-term interest, as I might suggest it is.

Think for a moment what might have been if the railroads had defined themselves as transportation companies. They might now be the guys producing the cars, the trucks, and the airplanes. But, they didn't have the vision. Companies almost never do. They saw themselves as railroad companies. They tried unsuccessfully to prevent the new guys from invading their block, just as the oil companies are trying to do with energy alternatives.

Take the American car companies, as an example. They were so wedded to internal combustion engines that they bought up every new long-lasting electric battery patent that was invented for years. The purpose? To deep six the technology, not to use it. They didn't want to change. Of course, now that the foreign producers have outdone them at their own game, they are beginning to try new technologies, but it's too late for them too.