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Technocrat James Schlesinger Is Dead At 85
mdsolar (1045926) writes "James Schlesinger, who served as Secretary of Defense under Presidents Nixon and Ford and as the first Secretary of Energy under President Carter, passed away on Thursday in Baltimore at the age of 85. Schlesinger is perhaps the most technocratic person to reach such high office. He had a keen awareness of the connection between energy supply and national defense and as Administrator of the Economic Regulatory Administration, brought our Standby Gasoline Rationing Plan into existence. The existence of such a plan along with our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which Schlesinger also brought into being, have been a bulwark against further oil embargoes and essentially broke OPEC for a period of more than a decade. The NYT has an obituary that covers more of his career."
No, he didn't break OPEC. He nearly broke the US, though; his plans resulted in manufactured shortages of gasoline and sky-high (for the time) prices.
Sure, the oil embargo had nothing to do with petty middle eastern retaliation for U.S. support of Israel and everything to do with James Schlesinger. Right.
Along with the rest of the USA. Start with deregulating banks, and proceed from there to here.
He committed mutiny during the last breaths of the Nixon administration when he notified the military not to take orders from the White House, particularly those with a nuclear tint, when he became concerned with Dick's erratic behavior... and he prepared for troops to enter Washington in case the succession to Ford didn't go smoothly.
I'm just simple, but give me a man of differing viewpoints who is candidly sincere about who he is versus an ally who takes fake to new levels...it becomes a monolemma.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
He was a very bright man.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
"A priority classification, including, for example, national security, newspaper distribution, rental vehicles, agriculture and for hire mail and small parcel transportation and delivery, is established to assure adequate gasoline supplies for designated essential services."
http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/12000/1...
Newpapers and mail aren't what they used to be, if you need gas you rent a car(?); this need to be updated.
(California 1973 sit in line every other day for gas veteran)
Sure, economic retaliation against a nation far too powerful to retaliate against militarily is petty. Right.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
A government can be technocratic, but how can a man? Technically competent maybe. Or technically respectful (selects advisers based on technical ability), but technocratic?
Hmm, okay, double checked the definition - Wikipedia says "A technocrat has come to mean either 'a member of a powerful technical elite', or 'someone who advocates the supremacy of technical experts' ". I suppose the second definition could apply in this case.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
that Schlesinger rated a mention in REM's "It's the end of the world as we know it (but I feel fine)"
But it doesn't show up on google.... sorry James, RIP.
Exactly! Nobody gives a carp, which is why I am not even going to post a comment.
Economic hitman.
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Nothing but an argument over price, and a devaluation of the dollar in the market two years after removing the gold standard. Old stock had to be used up before they could bring the new prices to market. It's an accounting thing. And I do believe it happened again in '79. This whole OPEC thing was a ruse. And the "strategic" reserve is just the government propping up the market, a bailout of sorts, kinda like government cheese.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
"...our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which Schlesinger also brought into being, have been a bulwark against further oil embargoes and essentially broke OPEC for a period of more than a decade. .."
Although those have probably been factors in "breaking OPEC," there may have been other factors. Amory Lovins around 15 years ago pointed out the following. If you make a graph showing US energy consumption in the last century, you have a fairly evenly rising line from the early part of the century right up to the 1973 OPEC Oil Embargo. After that, the line is almost flat up to circa 1990, when in slowly started to rise again. The 1973 embargo shocked the US. One of the ways the US responded was to go on a conservation binge. From individuals installing weather proofing of their homes to large companies cutting back on lighting, to Governor Jerry Brown of California in the 1970's requiring all new State Buildings to have passive energy conservation methods, to people buying cars with improved mph, etc. This behavior continued for almost 20 years, and then with time people forgot, and started buying SUV's etc. Even though Saint Regan ripped out the solar energy system Carter had installed on the White House and cut the Federal Budget on alternative energy, the shock of 1973 stayed. (Early wind generators suffered from mechanical failures from changing wind speeds. The US Government funded research to invent better technology. Not only did Reagan's administration stop the funding, they locked up the inventions from public view for over a decade!) Energy costs real money and not using it when you can is one way to react.
So, the US reacted, but then OPEC, and largely the Saudi's reacted. They realized that big shocks oil pricing and/or availability would result in effective counter behavior. Since then they have not done any total embargos or major price hikes. They done both, but at a 'tolerable' level or duration where they could gain a benefit but not create a motivation to "break free" from reliance on their oil.
Now, with the rise of Asian and South American markets for oil, they have other places to sell.
Again, I'm not saying his actions were not wise, and they did provide a buffer for the US from oil price fluctuations and available supply, but the original poster may have overstated the effect.
=== /.? I don't trust Google, Microsquash, or the PTA with my info.
Interesting about his actions during the end of Nixon's Rein of Terror. I'll have to read up on that.
===
I'm not an anonymous coward. For one thing, the NSA knows who I am anyway. Mostly though, I'm lazy, too lazy to register. And, frankly, why should I trust
Steven Chu was just recently in that post, and he is a Nobel laureate. Could this mean that "technocratic" has nothing to do with anything (except, possibly, someone on the net trying to get more page views)?
This is what is known as a true inconvenient truth.
Sure, economic retaliation against a nation far too powerful to retaliate against militarily is petty. Right.
Little country do what big country say! The World is a playground.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
But he was a dedicated public servant who put forth a consistent effort in that service to achieve his vision of a world order that resulted in greater peace. Whether on the right or left, the elitist or the anarchist schools of thought, we should be lucky to have another in our lifetimes as committed to the end goal of a more secure and peaceful planet.