candy coating

This article is exactly what I'm talking about. Renewable energy is still just a pretty decoration for huge oil companies. Sure they try and recreate their image by saying they are 'energy companies' (Like bp saying, 'beyond petroleum') If there is a beyond petroleum, it's not the kind that I think most of us ideally think of, mainly being LP gas, shale oil, etc. Even BP is one of the largest produceers (or at least retailers) of renewable energy, it is only a minscule amount of their overall profit. And in part it makes sense. As the BP president said 'Without petroleum, we would be living 'in a dark, cold, miserable' place.

So what's the issue here? Part of this is leading to a rant about liberals. Now, I think of myself as being a liberal. Conservatives, in my mind, are simply ignorant or complacent about most issues of this nature, but I feel far too many liberals run away from issues rather than confronting them (as I hide out in Japan until America has a new political administration, I realize I may in part be a hypoctite, but spending a prolonged period abroad in my 20's has always been a plan of mine) So many people I know are working in NGO's, which I feel the majority of are not effective. They think of oil companies as evil giants. By running away they simply let the giant storm around throwing rocks at them in the form of advocacy, excuse the metaphoric language. My view is to change the oil companies themselves. Although I suppose if a liberal ever became president of an oil company, if they followed the ideals they had, they would probably commit economic suicide and destroy the company unintentionally even, for better or for worse.

It is disturbing to me that the oil companies, according to this article, are seeing a windfall from the increased oil prices. Now if they are simply charging more because decreased oil security and reducing reserves, why should oil companies take a profit? It just seems irrational to me.