Merry Andrew wrote:I agree that we should curtail our oil imports from the Near East, whether from Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. But I also think that, rather than offshore drilling or defiling our national forests, we should get serious about developing alternate energy sources.
There's no alternate energy source which will kick in any time soon. Things we need to do as quickly as possible include:
Drilling everywhere possible including ANWR, California, and Flori-duh. In particular, pollution from natural seepage off California is more than would accure were the oil being drilled.
Neighborhood worksites with online connectivity to get the majority of the people out of the business of commuting long distances to work.
Develop a national industry in carbonfibre to replace steel for this new century. Buildings, bridges, and vehicles should be using carbonfibre and not steel. The typical small car would weigh 1000 lbs if we did that and the savings in fuel would be enormous.
Exploring for the deep oil and natural gas resources which you read about in the emerging literature, the supply of which is probably unlimited.
Develop our enormous shale oil resources.
Develop cold fusion technology, which in actual fact is sufficiently real.
Develop any other nuclear energy resources as necessary.
Do all of that, and we could put AlQuaeda and every other tin-horn lunatic whose game is fueled with oil money straight out of business.