The Domesticated Primate

While listening to the BestOfTheLeft podcast, I heard audio of the President of Shell talking about energy. This isn't some dirty hippie professor or a godless scientist we are talking about here. This is a president of a major energy corporation. After some creative Googling, I was able to come up with this transcript:

We believe at Shell that we have to change the hearts, the minds, the
values, and the behaviors of Americans toward a culture of conservation, to use energy differently and to use energy more efficiently in the world of tomorrow. Eight percent of the world’s population today in this country uses 25 percent of the world’s energy supply every day. That is not a sustainable formula for lifestyle and use of energy into the future, when we know for a fact that the other 92 percent of the world wants their fair share of energy.

If you travel today to China, travel to India, travel to other parts of the world, you see the increased use of energy in ways and means that we are accustomed to in our lifestyle. And you realize that we can’t deny the Chinese, Indians, Africans, Malaysians, other people from different parts of the world from also wanting their opportunity to use energy in different ways.

The unsustainability of the 8-to-25 formula will only be satisfied in the current lifestyle by higher costs. And at some point, cost is too great for the social requirements of our communities and our cities. As a consequence, people get frozen out. They can’t afford energy. They can’t pay the bill. They can’t fill up the tank because it’s too expensive. So, a culture of conservation to us deals with hearts, minds, behaviors, beliefs. And it leads to different ways of managing energy in terms of how our homes are designed, how our factories, offices and lifestyles are designed. I don’t mean to be critical, but this morning, coming down the elevator at the Hilton next to the ballpark, waiting for colleagues, you look at the fireplace, there’s a gas fire heating an air-conditioned lobby. It looks great. It feels great. A little chill on your back and a little warmth on your front. But is that an efficient use of energy in the world of tomorrow? The answer is obvious.

They also had audio of him declaring that the "debate is over" regarding global warming. Now I know it's all too easy to believe this is just another corporation greenwashing, but why would they admit to something that the pro-corporate shills like Rush and his clones have been denying all these years?

Now, are we really going to allow Republicans to keep their head in the sand and sign us up for endless resource wars to maintain "our way of life" (which apparently includes stupid and shameful uses of energy like the above), or is it time to drag them kicking and screaming into the "reality-based community"? If not, I think they should change their logo from the elephant to the ostrich.