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What Is ‘Energy Independence’?
"Energy independence" was a buzzword of the presidential campaign, but, as Michael Kinsley and Roger Sant point out in today's Washington Post, every president since Nixon has promised it. "Despite all the rhetoric, we are twice as dependent," they write, as we were 35 years ago. It seems more feasible now, however, than it has been in previous years: The security and economic issues around energy make protectionism more likely (never mind that Canada, not Saudi Arabia or Venezuela, is our largest supplier of oil). This is fine so long as our efforts are on reducing consumption of oil, rather than simply finding new sources. "The only way the United States alone can weaken the economic and political power of oil is to reduce the amount we use, regardless of where it comes from. So consuming less oil—as opposed to replacing imported oil with domestic supplies—should be the goal."
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This (never mind that Canada, not Saudi Arabia or Venezuela, is our largest supplier of oil) is an incorrect statement. Check your facts.
I do not agree with your final assumption either. People have to get to work and shop for groceries and go to the doctor as well as take an occasional vacation. They must use their vehicles!
"Renewable energy" will take decades to develop and making laws that people can't use coal or oil before there are viable other options is just not reasonable.
While renewable sources are being developed, we must tap our own oil and gas resources!
They "must use their vehicles" ? My humble Saturn uses approximately seven ounces of gas per mile in the city, which, if you know anything about the enormous energy content of gasoline, is an unconscionable waste! The same mile on my bicycle, or on foot, would use more than 90% less energy, as well as providing exercise, more of which most Americans sorely need. Renewable energy is not decades away, it is immediately available, at a very low price to those willing to use their brain and their muscles! Remember, too, that every time you fill your tank, you are doing your share to fund Al Qaieda, and that's not smart at all!
Thank you.
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