Yes, Thomas Friedman is back (it's Times Select, so there's no linking). Mr. Friedman reports that voters want energy independence, but they are not prepared to support higher gas or BTU taxes. Instead he tells us that they want higher mileage standards and energy use regulations of the sort put in place by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in California. Friedman's source on what voters support is Democratic political advisors James Carville and Stan Greenberg, who he tells us "are are professional campaign advisers. They get paid to get people elected � not to offer feel-good nostrums." Actually, I thought that people get elected by offering feel good nostrums. (They certainly don't have to offer to worry about tough analyses from the likes of Mr. Friedman.) In fact, the California regulations, while a step in the right direction, will not get us close to energy independence. We will have to go much further than these regulations, and maybe have a target date of something like 2050, unless the public is interested in some serious taxes. But, we shouldn't expect Thomas Friedman to know such things.
-- Dean Baker
