Addicted to oil?
The Iraq Study Group (ISG) is set to release its report (AP, by Lolita Baldor) next week. And they seem to be talking quite a bit about troop redeployments, but there also seems to be something missing from all this preliminary talk: ending our "addiction to oil."
Nearly a year ago, I applauded our Commander-in-Chief when President Bush said (CNN):
"Here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world," the former oil executive said.But at this point, who remembers the "Advanced Energy Initiative?" Was this just lip service?
"Tonight, I announce the Advanced Energy Initiative -- a 22 percent increase in clean energy research at the Department of Energy, to push for breakthroughs in two vital areas," Bush said. "To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission, coal-fired plants; revolutionary solar and wind technologies; and clean, safe nuclear energy.
"We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We will also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips, stalks,or switch grass."
I don't think so. I get pretty deep into this energy stuff. And from what I can tell, things are happening... behind the scenes. Way behind the scenes, unfortunately. And therein lies the problem. As the saying goes... if a tree falls in the woods...?
The President should be using the bully pulpit in an effort to end America's "addiction to oil." But he is not doing that. As far as I'm concerned, there's no way to decouple the war in Iraq from our dependence on Mideast oil. And since the path toward energy independence and away from Mideast dependence is complex, it is incumbent on our leaders to show us the way.
I sincerely hope that, unlike the President, the ISG doesn't fail to address America's "addiction to oil" when they address their "plan for Iraq." If they do, along with the President, they'll be doing a disservice to our nation. The issues are too big. The stakes are too high. Someone needs to explain to America both "alt fuels" and the path forward. And if the POTUS isn't going to do it, then whoever has the eyes and ears of the world should do it. And my guess is that, next week, the world's attention will be focused on the ISG.
In the meantime, I'm working at the local level to move Cheshire toward alt fuels. More on that in a different post.
And not entirely unrelated, Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA) announced his bid for the Presidency today. I don't know much about him at all. But from what I understand, he's making alt fuels central to his campaign... so he's starting off on the right foot with me.
Tim White
Cheshire Town Council, 4th District
2 comments:
as for as I know the Iraq Study Group's charge wasn't to address our addiction to oil, it was about an Iraqi War exit strategy.
I doubt the Iraq Study Group was going to recommend changing fuel efficiency standards on cars or other fuel alternatives.
But I should have known it had been a few posts since your last energy manifesto.
I guess we as a country could pass the strictest environmental laws in the world and countries like China and India each with over a billion people, they can't even feed, will still pollute our air.
Who is to say the earth is to last for eternity? We as a world only have an energy problem because we have an overpopulation problem.
I may have been unclear, but the point of this post was to say that there is no responsible exit strategy from Iraq that does not address our dependence on Mideast oil.
As for the environment, I don't think I mentioned it in this post. Nonetheless, you raise a valid (and related) point about China & India.
My feeling is if America gets serious about alt fuels (and conservation), then when we come up with new "clean" technologies, we could spread them around the world... creating more jobs for America and improving the environment around the globe.
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