Oil Independence
“Never again should we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to oil-price manipulation. We must become a net exporter of oil.” – Roger Thoney.
Our current economic problems are directly related to our dependence on oil. OPEC engineered the hyperinflation in oil prices after we invaded Iraq, and that hyperinflation is the underlying cause of the current world economic downturn.
In order to prevent OPEC from manipulating oil prices ever again, we must reduce the worldwide demand for oil by switching to alternative sources of energy to fuel our cars and trucks and increase the production of oil outside OPEC. The United States must become a net exporter of oil.
We must build into our cars and trucks the capability to switch to a non-oil-based alternative fuel when the price of oil increases. We also must accelerate our efforts to run our cars and trucks on hydrogen. The fuel of the future must become the fuel of the present as soon as possible.
Non-corn-based alcohol will displace the use of oil as will hydrogen. Electric hybrids will help reduce the demand for oil, but will not displace the use of oil. Natural-gas-fueled vehicles will displace the use of oil, but will not put pressure on OPEC because OPEC produces natural gas, too. All-electric cars will displace the use of oil, but they have limited range and the recharging times are much too long to be practical.
The best plan is to switch to non-corn-based alcohol now and accelerate the development and introduction of hydrogen-fueled vehicles. The next best plan is to switch to natural-gas-fueled vehicles, followed by electric hybrids. See The “Switch and Drill” Plan to Reduce the Price of Oil for more details. This plan was introduced through Sonny Landham’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2008.
Note that switching to wind, solar, and nuclear power will not displace the use of much oil. These sources of energy will displace the use of coal and other fossil fuels. They relate to global warming and are intended to reduce carbon emissions. They will increase the cost of energy at a time when we need to reduce the cost to create more jobs and bring financial relief to Americans struggling to make ends meet. Price is the issue with energy today, nothing else.