Quote of the day

Harold Hamm, founder and CEO of Continental Resources, the 14th-largest oil company in the country, describes a conversation with President Obama:

"I told him of the revolution in the oil and gas industry and how we have the capacity to produce enough oil to enable America to replace OPEC. I wanted to make sure he knew about this." 

The president's reaction? "He turned to me and said, 'Oil and gas will be important for the next few years. But we need to go on to green and alternative energy. [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu has assured me that within five years, we can have a battery developed that will make a car with the equivalent of 130 miles per gallon.'"

The arrogance here is simply stunning. How does President Obama -- a man with zero direct experience in the energy sector -- have any idea what forms of energy the country should be using? Why does he even regard that as his job? And how does Secretary Chu know what battery capabilities will look like in five years? Because he has a Nobel prize?

It is exactly this mentality of expansive government and baseless certitude that has given us the Solyndra disaster and a green energy revolution that continues to exist mostly in Thomas Friedman's fevered imagination.

Update: More here.