The Energy 12-Step Program

When President Kennedy made it America’s goal to put a man on the moon, it happened within ten years. But America is in a technology “funk” today. We have a president who tells us we’re addicted to oil, while at the same time underfunding projects that would help to solve the oil crisis. Instead of developing solutions, our president implies that the American people need a 12-Step program. With that in mind, let’s examine the 12-steps:

Step 1. Admit that we are powerless over oil, and that our lives have become unmanageable.

Absurd! If you believe that you’re powerless over oil, and that you can’t manage your own life, you’ll never accomplish anything.

Step 2. Come to believe that a power greater than yourself can restore you to sanity.

Ridiculous! You’re not insane.

Step 3. Make a decision to turn your will and your life over to the care of God.

Bolderdash! Don’t expect God to solve your problems. Solve problems with the help of God.

Step 4. Make a searching and moral inventory of yourself.

Finally, some good advice! Applying your knowledge and skills to this problem is morally appropriate.

Step 5. Admit to God, to yourself, and to another human being the exact nature of your wrongs.

Silly! You did nothing wrong in the context of oil use. It was wrong of our president to tell us we’re addicted to oil.

Step 6. We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Asinine! Your use of oil does not represent a defect of character.

Step 7. Humbly ask God to remove your shortcomings.

Good advice, but remember that your use of oil is not a shortcoming.

Step 8. Make a list of all persons you’ve harmed, and become willing to make amends to them all.

Don’t feel guilty for your past use of oil, it was thrust upon you.

Step 9. Make amends to such people whenever possible.

You harmed no one, and therefore need not make amends.

Step 10. Continue to take personal inventory, and admit when you’re wrong.

Good advice, but don’t list your use of oil as a wrong.

Step 11. Improve your conscious contact with God.

Good advice, but remember that God doesn’t solve your problems; you do that with God’s help.

Step 12. Practice these principles in your affairs.

You’re not addicted to oil no matter who says you are, and you don’t need a twelve-step program. Use your time and talents to make better use of the resources you have, and don’t expect God or anyone else to do it for you. Someday we’ll have leaders who will actually work with us to solve problems, instead of calling us “addicts”, but for now we’re just going to have to rely on our own efforts. God bless you, keep up the good work, and don’t listen to those who say you’re an addict. God gave us a limited supply of oil, and we could have used it more responsibly. More than anyone else, this was the fault of our leaders. If we’re “addicts” in our president’s mind, then he’s the “dealer”. He himself may need a 12-Step program, but we don’t.

John