DarkSyde has something to say about Republicans' sudden inability to tackle our energy problems:

....The defenders of our White House, who routinely claim that their much vaunted War President can do anything, have now flip-flopped to say he can't do a thing and neither can anyone else. To hear them whine and bleat you'd think the nation that won the cold war, the guys who sent people to the moon, the country that invented the atomic bomb, the descendants of the very people who took on the greatest empire on earth and won, twice by the way, is as helpless as a kitten up a tree. They can't do a thing. They Can't. Ask the Republicans, how about using less oil? They'll tell you: We Can't. How about redirecting ALL oil company giveaways to providing incentives for alternative energy companies and mass transit? We'll pretend to reexamine them, but We Can't really eliminate them. How about putting the same kind of resources into achieving energy freedom we put into Iraq or Halliburton or the pockets of billionaires via tax cuts? We Can't. How about mandating higher fuel efficiencies for cars and trucks from every manufacturer allowed access to our markets, with some tax credits thrown in for our domestic auto industry to comply? We Can't. How about getting rid of the lavish tax breaks for Hummers and mega-SUVs and instead lavishly reward every compact and hybrid buyer? We Can't. Instead, in what has become a ritual for this GOP and WH, George Bush and friends show up way too late and billions of dollars short with a PR campaign ...BushCo's vague muttering seems to indicate they will : Wring their hands rhetorically, blame the democrats, remove the gas tax (Thus forcing state and local governments to raise sales taxes and property taxes through the roof), and 'take a fresh look' at oil company subsides. And you can bet the latter means this oily Republican Rubber-stamp Congress will cleverly rewrite Cheney's sweetheart energy bills and end up giving the most profitable industry in the world more breaks! More free drilling rights! Less pesky regulation! It would be hilarious, if it was a joke. The recycled excuses and lack of accountability, underscored with blood and treasure, are bad enough. Siphoning off even more of our paychecks for Exxon and the Saudi-Bush Family is simply disgusting. But those two words "We Can't" should send a chill of revulsion up the spine of any American who hears them. America was not built by the "I Can't's." These United States were first forged as a sovereign nation and later strengthened to world super-power status by generations of visionary statesmen and leaders who stepped up to the plate and said loudly "I Can and I Will!" If the Republican "I Can'ts," really can't (Or won't) then maybe they're in the wrong line of work. And maybe We the People would be better off replacing them with people who Can.