Reprinted from hartmannreport.com
Squeals of "socialism!" aside, we know how to do this and have done it before, repeatedly. This time it's not just about saving our banks or fighting a war: this time, it's about saving the world"
If you want to trigger a conservative, just suggest nationalizing the US gas and oil industry. "Venezuela!" they'll scream hysterically, perhaps adding a few, "Iran!" squeals. (Somehow, they always forget to yell about Norway")
Within minutes they'll be croaking about that time back in 2008 when Maxine Waters - a Black woman with power and therefore the most terrifying thing Republicans can imagine - threatened oil industry CEOs who were giving Congress deliberately deceptive and incomplete answers with "socializing" taking over and the government running all your companies."
Immediately, Fox "News" was all over it, as were dozens of rightwing sites.
In that, they've completely ignored (or never knew) the long American history of taking over industries during a time of national crisis.
And, as we re-enter a cold war with Russia and face unprecedented human death and property damage from climate change, it's hard to claim we're not in the midst of a national crisis that has fossil fuels at its foundation.
We're at least 40 years behind where we should be in dealing with the fossil fuel/global warming crisis because giant oil companies have run massive disinformation campaigns while funding the political careers of hacks in Congress willing to lie to the public for them.
President Jimmy Carter, for example, declared a national crisis in 1979 and proposed legislation to create "this nation's first solar bank, which will help us achieve the crucial goal of 20 percent of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000."
FDR had sold bonds to the public to fund a government corporation that would develop synthetic rubber for fighter jet tires back in the day, and Carter wanted to do the same to end our dependence on fossil fuels:
"Just as a similar synthetic rubber corporation helped us win World War II," Carter said, "so will we mobilize American determination and ability to win the energy war.
In that same July 15, 1979 speech, he proposed the government issue bonds that would fund:
"[T]he creation of an energy security corporation to lead this effort to replace 2-1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day by 1990. The corporation will issue up to $5 billion in energy bonds, and I especially want them to be in small denominations so that average Americans can invest directly in America's energy security."
It all came crashing down 42 years ago this coming January when the fossil fuel industry's candidate, Ronald Reagan, replaced Carter, killed the solar bank and the bond program, and even took Carter's solar panels off the roof of the White House.
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