The poet William Stafford set himself the task of writing a poem a day. When someone asked him what he would do when his poem-of-the-day wasn't very good, he replied "I simply lower my standards." In order to increase output, the bar here is set at a low level - the point of this is to have some fun with current events and politics. I welcome contributions and comments. Now you can also follow Doggerelo on Twitter (@doggerelo). Because of continuing medical problems, I'm no longer able to post a poem-a-day. I'll continue to post poems, but at a reduced frequency, so please stay tuned.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Fueling Our Military


As detailed in this post by David Roberts from Grist, Republican legislators in the House are doing their best to staunch the use of non-fossil fuels (other than nuclear power) by the military, on the grounds that it costs more than conventional fossil fuels. On the other hand, they are promoting the use of liquid fuels derived from coal by a process that produces 2.5 times as much CO2 as the use of conventional oil, and is more expensive to boot! 

Our military’s much too strong
To be saddled by a fuel that’s wrong.
And if it’s not a fossil fuel
That runs counter to our rule
And costs more money to employ
So we forbid it to deploy.
But if it’s made from dirty coal
That’s consistent with our goal;
Although it costs more in the end
It’s use we gladly recommend.
The fossil fuel folks give us dough
So we’ll never slow the oil flow.

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