Keep Moving Forward

It seems that the general plan for combating oil prices and the economy and energy dependence has been to complain, make wild speculations, do nothing, and doom-monger. Well isn't it time we faced the obvious? Things aren't just magically going to get better, so why don't we get to work.

The obvious long term goal is to discover a new more economical and environmentally friendly energy source. While steps have been made in that direction, we're not exactly close to finding the uber-energy yet. While we sit around experimenting and thinking about it, gas prices keep going up. What do we do? We buy time. I'm talking about drilling for coastal oil, tapping into Alaska and the Arctic Circle, etc. Discovering this "new" energy will take some time, and over time, oil prices will continue to go through the roof, and, as our economy "runs on oil" this doesn't bode well for anyone. We need to tap into our vast reserves of oil, causing a massive price drop, lessened dependence on foreign oil, and the ressucitation of the economy.

One move by such corporations as ExxonMobil, Shell, Total and BP brings hope to the situation. These companies are now moving back in to Iraq for comercial oil drilling, the first venture of this kind since Saddam Hussein nationalized Iraqi industry 36 years ago.

Also, we are completely ignoring nuclear energy. It's free of the "feared" greenhouse gas emissions, it doesn't pollute when properly managed, and is extremely cost effective. For some reason, most politicans are scared of nuclear power. That is with the exception of Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain. He has proposed the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030, a move that I firmly believe will be good for America. There's no reason we shouldn't, and countless reasons we should, and yet it will almost definetly be fought by Democrats.