High oil prices got you down? Think there ought to be more of a push for renewable fuels? Big oil and the utilities want you to stop being so damned silly:

The legislation still contains a landmark increase in fuel-economy standards for vehicles and a huge boost for alternative fuels. But a $13 billion tax increase on oil companies and a requirement that utilities nationwide produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources were left on the floor to secure Republican votes for the package.

To be fair, there were definitely questionable aspects of the legislation before it was stripped down:

Mr. Ford said that even with the tax provisions removed, the oil industry had concerns about meeting the bill’s requirement that 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into gasoline by 2022.

That would be ethanol, and ask our friends out in Conoy Township about this. Nevertheless:

The oil industry conducted its own campaign of opposition to the tax provisions, arguing that it would impose burdens on the industry when it needed all the resources it had to find and develop new sources of energy.

Got that? The oil industry, which has been raking in mind-boggling, record profits, needs every last drop of that money.

This is why the energy issue is never going to be solved in this country. The solutions we do have - such as ethanol - are too flawed. And the entrenched financial interests, like big oil, aren’t about to budge.