Since when do we deal with our addiction by going to summits hosted by drug suppliers? Yet here is the Washington Post:

Saudi Arabian Oil Summit Hopes to Isolate Cause of Price Rise

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, June 21 — Leaders from oil-producing and oil-consuming nations will meet here Sunday to try to pinpoint the reasons behind the rise in oil prices, which have doubled over the past year, and to find ways to bring them down.

You cannot make this stuff up. I can “pinpoint” the reason prices are high. We are addicted to your product, just like the president said. We will pay any price you charge and do nothing whatsoever to break the addiction. Heck, we will even go to a summit you host to talk about anything but our addiction.

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, representing the world’s top oil consumer, said Saturday that insufficient oil production is driving the soaring crude prices. Oil production has not kept up with increasing demand from developing countries including China and India, Bodman said.

Has your head exploded yet? Is Big Media that gullible? Don’t answer that second question. Is the energy secretary unaware that we still use twice as much oil as China and India combined? Is he unaware supply is limited but that his boss has blocked most efforts to reduce demand? (See “Peak Oil? Bring it on!“)

Question for the Energy Secretary: What country’s insatiable thirst for oil imports is most responsible for the tightening world market from 1995 to 2004?

Read more

Then you probably shouldn’t turn to the World Bank, according to David Wheeler from the Center for Global Development. Last week, Wheeler testified before the House as to why the World Bank, with its current state and practices, is not the ideal candidate to oversee the Clean Tech Fund.

President Bush created and authorized $400 million for the Clean Tech Fund to work through the World Bank to finance the additional costs of deploying clean energy technologies. A rare effort by this Administration, the fund aims to be multilateral, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and engage developing countries.

But as Climate Progress has noted previously, critics do not agree that the World Bank is the best avenue for this effort. It’s large and bureaucratic, and its interests are not always aligned with the (clean) purpose of this fund, as the World Bank also heavily funds coal plants. (Talk about mixed market signals.)

David Wheeler, mentioned above, led the critical cries at a House hearing last week. You can read the details of his testimony at the CGD blog (and watch a quick video), in addition to a forthcoming report by Wheeler and a colleague on the potential of solar thermal in contrast to coal-fired plants.

Read more