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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060207/...enewable_fuels
Sweden has announced that it plans to completely end its dependence on oil by 2020. Granted, Sweden's already a few years ahead of the United States in this regard, but let's see if we can beat them. As long as we're dependent on oil - even if we don't buy it from the Middle East - we're financing Middle Eastern terrorists and rogue states.
What we need to do to end our oil dependency:
- Build nuclear power plants, and do so immediately. The American public is not as squeamish about nuclear power as most politicians believe, and it's much much safer than giving money to Islamic extremists.
- Start a nationwide PR campaign to inform homeowners how much they'd be saving by having solar panels on their house.
- The government should subsidize part of the cost to the consumer for buying hybrid vehicles. Since they aren't yet economically efficient enough to compete with gas guzzlers, the government can make up the difference to reduce our dependence on oil.
- The US military should announce that it will only buy hybrid or hydrogen-fuel vehicles (except for tanks), starting around 2011. This would create an enormous incentive for companies to fill the future demand.
- Most importantly, institute a federal punitive gasoline tax. Say, $2 per gallon, to be phased in in ten-cent increments per month. Without this, all the funding in the world in alternative energy won't kickstart the industry out of the research phase and into the development phase.
These are drastic steps, to be sure. I'm usually no fan of interfering with the free market, but our oil dependency has become a matter of national security. This plan will save a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on making sure Islamic rogue states behave themselves, and will put a stranglehold on their main source of funding.
Sweden has announced that it plans to completely end its dependence on oil by 2020. Granted, Sweden's already a few years ahead of the United States in this regard, but let's see if we can beat them. As long as we're dependent on oil - even if we don't buy it from the Middle East - we're financing Middle Eastern terrorists and rogue states.
What we need to do to end our oil dependency:
- Build nuclear power plants, and do so immediately. The American public is not as squeamish about nuclear power as most politicians believe, and it's much much safer than giving money to Islamic extremists.
- Start a nationwide PR campaign to inform homeowners how much they'd be saving by having solar panels on their house.
- The government should subsidize part of the cost to the consumer for buying hybrid vehicles. Since they aren't yet economically efficient enough to compete with gas guzzlers, the government can make up the difference to reduce our dependence on oil.
- The US military should announce that it will only buy hybrid or hydrogen-fuel vehicles (except for tanks), starting around 2011. This would create an enormous incentive for companies to fill the future demand.
- Most importantly, institute a federal punitive gasoline tax. Say, $2 per gallon, to be phased in in ten-cent increments per month. Without this, all the funding in the world in alternative energy won't kickstart the industry out of the research phase and into the development phase.
These are drastic steps, to be sure. I'm usually no fan of interfering with the free market, but our oil dependency has become a matter of national security. This plan will save a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on making sure Islamic rogue states behave themselves, and will put a stranglehold on their main source of funding.