My Country is Addicted to Oil

My name is Michael Brune, and my country is addicted to oil.

Two months after the President's SOTU confession to America's oil addiction, it appears as though our leaders are still in denial. It's as though Uncle Sam has declared his addiction, but has since skipped a few meetings and has now fallen off the wagon. Maybe this week's global warming cover story in Time magazine will wake people up to the challenge in front of us.

Like many addicts, the country may require a 12-step program to kick its habit. Truth is, we need a national intervention on the leaders that are keeping us hooked.

How to start? One great tool is to track how much dirty oil money politicians are accepting, and then push for a separation of oil and state.

Others are challenging corporate America to step up. Today, Saturday, April 1st, dozens of organizations are organizing a "Fossil Fools" day of action at over 100 sites across the country to protest Ford Motor Company and other enablers, or, shall we say, dealers.

Transportation accounts for two-thirds of the country's consumption each year, mostly fueling cars, trucks, and SUv's. Of all the major automakers, Ford has the worst fleetwide fuel efficiency, and the highest average greenhouse gas emissions per vehicle.

Whatever the reason - human health or human rights, our economy or our ecology, national security or common sense - our oil addiction may be the country's greatest shame.

As Kurt Vonnegut wrote in A Man without a Country, "Can I tell you the truth? I mean, this isn't the TV news, is it? Here's what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial. And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we're hooked on."

Let's get started.