Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Thursday, July 24, 2008
We need a smart energy policy
Four years ago, when President Bush announced that “America is addicted to oil,” didn’t most of us think that this meant that he would press for a smart energy policy, one that would get us off of oil, or at least sharply reduce our demand?
Now, as he lobbies for more offshore drilling, we realize that what he really meant was, that for all of us addicted users of oil, he would be the one to make sure we had one more fix. More disappointing is the number of people who are buying into this argument that more drilling will fix the problem in the short term.
We could have addressed this dilemma 30 years ago but did not. How much more time are we going to waste now before we decide to address the problem and not simply the symptom?
So it was with a breath of fresh air that I listened to
T. Boone Pickens ads on TV recently. Here is a respected man of some import in the financial community who is also an oil man, and he is saying that we cannot drill our way out of high gas prices. He claims to have a comprehensive energy plan that gets us off oil, and will be presenting it in the days to come. I hope everyone is looking forward to this as much as I am.
My mantra: Billions here at home for a smart energy policy vs. billions overseas for oil.
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