If the United States is a fossil fuel addict, then the Alberta tar sands are our next big fix.
Of course, I think the operative word in that statement is 'if'.
Borrowing wisdom from the twelve step program pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous, theologian Ched Myers contends that addiction — “the inability to say no because of captivity to pathological desires” — names our spiritual and cultural condition. Perhaps nowhere is this clearer than in the case of fossil fuels.
Just for the sake of argument and satire, let's run with this kind argument, shall we?
Hello, my name is (insert name here). I'm an oxygen addict. I need it, I really do. I can't live without it. When I go a few seconds without it, I feel like I'm gonna die.
Hello, my name is (insert name here). I'm a food addict. I need it, almost every day. And when I don't have it, when I go without it, I feel horrible.
Hello, my name is (insert name here). I'm a water addict. I need it, every day. Almost every hour, I'm looking either for water or something made from water so I can drink it. I can't live without it.
Hello, my name is (insert name here). I'm a sleep addict. I have to have it, several hours of it, every day, or bad things happen. I get irritable, cranky, just can't function.
Hello, my name is (insert name here). I'm an electricity addict. I like light bulbs, I like televisions, I like my computer, and all of them are powered by the sockets in my walls. Heck, they even want me to buy electric cars.
Hello, my name is (insert name here). I'm a people addict. Oh, sure, sometimes I like being alone and stuff, but really, I need people, too. I need to talke to people, see people around.
Hello, my name is (insert name here). I'm a book addict. I love to read, I almost always have a good with me, and enjoy reading them. I can live without it, I suppose, but life would be so much narrower without good books to munch on.
Hello, my name is (insert name here). I'm a video game addict. I love video games, I can't get enough of them, and by golly, if you touch my systems, I'll send the Mario Bros. after you. You don't wanna mess with them plumbers.
Now, in what way is the US in any way addicted to oil? I would say, none. I would say, this is a really bad argument. Oil is a natural resource, oil is important in many ways to our current cultural, especially in regards to travel. But saying we are addicted to it is like saying we were addicted to camels and horses before we had the automobile. It's like saying we were addicted to sunlight and candles before we had electric lights. It like saying we were addicted to the theater before we had television.
In other words, it's just more Sojrones and their allies trying to spin the opposition in a dastardly light.
So, drill, baby, drill!!!
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