We Need A Declaration Of Energy Independence

On this 4th day of July, 2008, when oil rests at its highest price on record (just above 145/barrel), the time has come for a Declaration of Energy Independence. Government seems unable to take any meaningful action, so, maybe the world web can be the action ground. Let us use something like a reverse Ponzi scheme, where each person reading this post sends it out to ten friends, who in turn... No, nothing terrible will happen to you if you don't, unless you count the double hammer of Peak Oil and Global Warming as the implied enforcer.

According to http://www.CleanEnergyAction.net, Americans believe thusly:

- 90% feel that our federal government is not doing enough about energy,

- 82% say that the U.S. should be a leader, not a follower, on global climate mitigation, and

- 75% believe that there should be a 5-year moratorium on new coal-fired power plants.

Mind you, the world has for the longest time now been concerned about energy, and limited resources spurred both world wars and our current presence in the Middle East. Some give credit to Richard Nixon for first mentioning the concept, when, following the First Energy Crisis in the Fall of 1973, he announced Project (Energy) Independence in his 1974 State of the Union address. Jimmy Carter, in 1977, promulgated his unfortunate Moral Equivalent of War (MEOW) plan to attain energy self-sufficiency by 1990. Then came the Second Energy Crisis in 1979 and renewable energy funding jumped to more than 2 billion (in 2005 dollars) by 1982. That was when the world should have initiated the so called Manhattan project for sustainable resources.

Unfortunately, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated in 1982 and decimated the solar program. Amazingly enough, the Department of Energy alternative energy budget since then never reached even 1 billion/YEAR again. Considering that Americans spend about a billion dollars each DAY on gasoline, a Nobel Laureate economist reports that we expend a billion dollars each DAY for our war in the Middle East and each space shuttle shot costs about a billion dollars, one can only be embarrassed by our chosen priorities.

The primary reason, of course, was that, in 2005 dollars, oil dropped to 14.58/barrel, when it was as high as 89.48 in 1980. In 1972, before that initial energy crisis, oil cost 18.76 (yes, around 3 those days, but we are talking 2005 dollars).

Mind you, virtually every pundit since Watergate has continued to pound on the myth of energy independence. Ah, but our U.S. Congress last year did actually pass the Energy Independence and Security Act, which did not do much of anything. Perhaps in response, Robert Bryce earlier this year published Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusion of Energy Independence. So, be careful, for anyone supporting anything resembling energy independence could well be forever discredited.

So, sure, vote for a president to, for the first time, establish a national energy policy. Yes, make sure our elected representatives more seriously consider something like a carbon tax to reduce global warming. Are you dreaming? If nothing progressive has happened for all these past few decades, what gives you any hope for a sudden attitudinal change? Unless, that is, you do something about it.

I have kept saying that there is something about these blogs, featuring instant feedback, that can make that crucial difference. Let us pronounce, today, our Declaration of Energy Independence, and send this proclamation to ten of our closest colleagues, asking them to do the same, or, at the least, link this post with another blog site. Will this work? Nothing else has.-