Confession: Although I am an unabashed conservative, I sometimes enjoy reading Tom Friedman's articles in the NYTimes.

However, he is starting to resemble a stopped clock. And that may be the right metaphor for those who see everything from a "Oil bad, green good" perspective. In his August 9th article titled "Flush with Energy" Tom waxes eloquent about toilets in Greenland, bikes in Denmark and the stupidity of Americans. Please note that I have nothing against either conservation or the development of renewable energy sources. I am all for efficiency, productivity and tapping new sources of energy. The solutions to our energy woes will truly be a journey of a thousand steps, encompassing short-term and long-term solutions. If solutions do come, they will come mostly from the private sector. The speed of innovative development will depend largely on our Govt's ability to get out of the way.

Single Issue Greenies such as Tom seem to suggest that we begin our journey by pointedly shooting ourselves in the foot, by raising taxes on energy.

Reading Tom Friedman's article led to some interesting questions:

* 50% of Danes go to work or school on bicycles - is that out of choice or from necessity, born from $10/gal gas? What portion of their productive days is spent riding around on bicycles? How many Danes are compelled to move closer to their public sector jobs because of the high price of gas? What are the unintended consequences of such a migration? Has there been any impact on the prices of real estate? Oh, scratch that last one - no one can afford to own real estate 'over there'. They are all living in rent-controlled heaven!

* A somewhat random thought: is the Govt-inspired bike-riding in Denmark part of their Universal Health Care system? If so, I can think of an American Presidential Candidate who would surely be for higher gasoline taxes. Except, he will call it a Windfall Tax on Big Oil's profits.

* Denmark was 'lucky to discover some oil in the North Sea'. How exactly does one get lucky in the North Sea? Could there have been some off-shore drilling involved? Nah, couldn't be -- since Tom is decidedly against such activities!

* Did Danes suffer from their government shaping the market with energy taxes? Tom asks a minister of climate and energy, and the answer is a predictable "No". How many ministers would own up to the fact that their precious taxes sap the productivity from their economy.

* While Tom raves that "Energy technology exports rose 8 percent in 2007 compared with a 2 percent rise in 2007 for Danish exports as a whole" I would ask -- "Could it be that the high energy taxes sapped their productivity, causing the rest of their exports to languish?" While Tom raves about the growth of one sector of the Danish economy, I hear the sound of overtaxed Danes groaning under the weight of tax policies which burden every aspect of their productive lives, but create a green-tinted utopia for one-issue journalists to praise.

* I have nothing against Danes (or Americans) devising efficient ways to recycle waste heat from coal-fired power plants. But, if those methods are created by tax-extortions, they come at too high a cost. The ancillary technology benefits that may derive from such expenditure (yes, our Govt-funded space program gave us Tang, teflon and dehydrated food) do not compensate for the drag on the rest of the productive economy.

* To use one of Tom's attention grabbing tricks: Quick! Name an innovation that you associate with Denmark in areas such as electronics, biotechnology, software, material science, medicine, pharmaceuticals .. Did you say Windmills, Cheese and those funny wooden clog-shoes? Hmm .. so, they've gone from windmills to wind-turbines.

* Quick! Name the European country that has successfully used its Energy Tax revenue to come up with an alternative fuel that is better than gasoline .. Did you say "Denmark", Tom? Oops, sorry, that was a trick question. The reality is that when such an alternative is found or created, it will likely be in a free-enterprise country -- and there are fewer of those around. And, we are in serious danger of losing the last remaining bastion of said free-enterprise.

* So, Denmark leads and America lags in wind turbines? OK, we concede that segment to them, until there is a real market for such technology. At that time, American innovation, backed by real-world, market-driven capital will clean their clocks. That is, unless foolish, one-issue greenies like Tom Friedman and Al Gore have their way with our economy. If that happens, we too will have windmills .. and a lower standard of living.

* Unemployment in Denmark is 1.6% -- that sounds wonderful! But, what percentage of working-age Danes are feeding off the Govt-trough, in their non-productive roles as tax collectors, bureaucrats, politicians, welfare-statists and other vermin?