Saturday, September 20, 2008

60% dependant on foreign oil is not acceptable.

We do not need to "lessen our dependence on foreign oil" we need to "eliminate" our dependence on foreign oil. These dribs and drabs of 5% here and 3% there are useless and only serve to distract from the problem. Politicians want you to believe that they are doing something. Moving from 70% dependent to 60% dependent is progress but of little long term value.

I have learned enough from politicians and business to know that when setting goals you should always aim high. You may not succeed but you are guaranteed to do better than if you set lower goals. I expect that the 10% goal of our current politicians will end up being 5% and deemed a huge success. I say aim higher. Aim for 100% US production. Yeah we may not get there but we will get far closer then hoping for a few percentage points here and there.

Drill off Florida, Texas and California. Drill in that postage stamp inside ANWAR and get moving on that shale from the Rocky Mountains. Increase Nuclear, Wind and Hydro power. Pursue new technologies. None of these alone will make up the 70% short-fall. T. Boone Picken's plan aims for 20% wind power. OK, that helps and we still have 50% to go. If we all inflate our tires as Obama would suggest that can get us 3-5% more. Still leaving 45% that has to come from somewhere.

When you set the proper goal it is easier to see that none of these are the right answer, all of them are. Let's get moving.

No comments: