Watch the Premiere Episode of Planet Green's Focus Earth - Saturday, July 12!

don't you mean July 12th?

After watching the Jul19 episode, I may never watch the network, much less this show, again.
The topic of discussion, Offshore and ANWR Drilling. Great! The guests (typically one from each viewpoint per political talk show format) Jeff Kupfer, Acting Deputy Secretary of the US Dept. of Energy (President George W. Bush nominated Jeffrey F. Kupfer as Deputy Secretary of Energy. http://www.doe.gov/organization/Jeff_Kupfer.htm "Prior to his appointment as Chief of Staff, he served as a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House. He also served as Executive Director of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. From 2001 through 2005, Mr. Kupfer was Deputy Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary at the Department of the Treasury. In 2003, Mr. Kupfer handled a temporary assignment as a Special Assistant to President Bush’s Chief of Staff.") and Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer & Co. a wealth management (investments & speculations) firm as an analyst, previously employed with Mobil Oil and more currently in energy consulting with Stone & Webster. More than 20 years with Mabon Nugent and JP Morgan. "One of the most quoted analysts on energy issues by the press and is a frequent guest on TV and radio business programs." All of this backed by a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cairo University and MBA in Finance from New York University. I'm not sure I even see the connection.
These two 'guests' are the same side of the coin, where was the counterpoint? The opposing view? 15 minutes into what was a horrifyingly one sided conversation on the pro's and pro's of offshore drilling I was so disgusted my head was in my hands. I was sure, that following this there would be another segment, the other side to the story. Perhaps they simply couldn't contain an interview with the opposing parties at the same table. No, simply, no.
Jeff, while stating it is not the only solution, says it is a solution. Claims supply is stagnant and demand is growing. (supply is controlled, not stagnant and demand is down and expected to decline in the US http://www.eia.doe.gov/steo) He claims we've taken steps to address demand (an ambiguous phrase with no detail added, and recently President Bush stated he will not ask Americans to conserve, admitted they should but would not ask them to.) and now we need to address supply. He says he wants to develop AE fuels (another ambiguous statement with no detail) and wants to explore offshore and in other parts of the US. No questions are asked of him regarding the amounts of money spent on which endeavor so far, or plans to spend on each in the future. No questions were asked regarding existing leases, or lack of platforms and tankers or the cost of shipping off to refineries or the cost of that refining. Gheit states we have billions of barrels (forgetting to mention we consume 20+ million barrels per day). When asked why we should drill, Gheit says to 'add to inventory for other options'. 'As long as people don't see drilling rigs, hear or smell them, for all practical purposes they won't know it's there', he says. (especially if they keep the spills and leaks secret like they did for hurricanes Katrina and Rita: http://www.mms.gov/tarprojects/581/44814183_MMS_Katrina_Rita_PL_Final%20Report%20Rev1.pdf)
There is so much more wrong with this interview I'm sure I can't get it all down here in this comment box (5 legal pad pages of notes worth of wrong). I'll be putting it all in a lengthy letter to the producers (John R Green of ABCNews & Tim Kuryak of reality TV fame), the PlanetGreen Admin, we and anyone else I can think of. I'm horrified and still in shock from this 30 minute program I thought was finally going to put out some unbiased environmental information. Same Pundits Different Channel. I should have known.