It's a phrase that is commonly used to describe a stubborn reluctance to seriously explore alternatives.  There are many arguments, mostly economic, as to why this should be, but mostly it's due to the fact that there is too much money being made from oil.

One of the ironies of the recent oil spill was in watching the president of a Lousiana Parrish talking about how Obama's moratorium on deep water drilling would decimate the local economy.  This said in the same breath with how the Obama Administration would help those fisherman whose livelihoods have been compromised.

This clearly demonstrates one of the fundamental flaws in our current economic models, since it is clear that there is no impetus to change.  Even a complete disaster becomes a "growth" industry as long as the profitability to those engaged in the disaster is greater than the losses incurred by the disaster.  Even as we are in the throes of a disaster that we are still trying to understand all the parameters around, there is pressure to continue the drilling because economies depend on it. 

What seems to be missing is the recognition that this is truly the behavior of the addict, where even the prospect of destruction cannot deter the need to pursue the addiction.  There is no disputing that changing our energy sources is a difficult task and will take a considerable amount of time, but it is absurd that this same discussion has been ongoing for several decades with no credible progress. 

The simple reality is that we do not have a "free market" and waiting for the "market" to be right for alternative energy sources will never happen.  Part of the point regarding the "free market" is that it has become clear that the oil companies are not truly paying the price of drilling given the lack of comprehensive fail-safe systems and procedures for dealing with such problems.  In short, they've traded their profitability against a risk that they will never have to absorb.  While many will point to the costs BP is currently incurring, in truth they are trivial compared to the amount of money earned over the years, especially when some of those savings were due to sloppy practices.

It is a sad state of affairs when one watches local mayors essentially pleading for people to continue spending money in their areas to offset the consequences of the oil spill.  It is clear that we, as a nation, are completely unprepared to deal with any real disaster and even less prepared economically to do anything for individuals.  Apparently we have hundreds of billions of dollars to help those that create the problems, but if you're on the other end of the spectrum, then it's just your tough luck.

As if that isn't enough, I just watched a short interview with a former official at Homeland Security indicating that terrorists may well be looking at this kind of disaster for future actions.  What was interesting to note is that the point being made was that the oil companies are those responsible for ensuring the security of their platforms, in the absence of a credible threat.  In the end, the question was asked whether oil companies were engaged in this type of security and the response was only ... "I hope so".

I guess the message is that we have no authority and we have no influence.  All we can do is hope that companies do the right thing and live up to their responsibilities.  Now we're discovering how such companies can hold governments and societies hostage by either being "too big to fail" or simply moving their jobs or operations to more favorable countries.  In addition, the latest fear is that the moratorium will cause oil rigs to move to other locations.  I gues it's just their way or the highway.  How pathetic is that?