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 wide 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.

Comments

[mamacat]

I was reading somewhere else that the U.S. hasn't been energy independent since the late 1940s. Great idea, we do need to do something, before it is too late.

[research]

Read my declaration of energy independence at my profile.

1T$, 10 years, all us energy from wind and solar. No nukes, coal or oil.

Faster to build then any other solution.
Solar 1GW/year doubling every 6 months. yes really. Much faster is possible.
Wind 30GW worldwide/year doubling every 3 years, and much faster is possible.

Far cheaper to install, "fuel" and maintain.

Sustainable forever.

Do the Math.

[Oldtimer]

Reagan was inaugurated in 1980 not 82 but I get your point. President Carter was correct about
energy and Reagan and the trickle down Repugs killed Carter's energy policy. Once again the
so-called great communicator screwed Americans over.
Obama should have Ted Sorensen write a Declaration of Energy Independence speech
and deliver it at the Tennessee Valley Authority in the South. This New Deal project is exactly the
kind of backdrop Obama should use to highlight the need for big acheivements in energy. It brings
construction jobs, it provides for the public good and it increases energy independence.

[Russycle]

Since we're nitpicking...the election was in 1980, the inauguration was in 1981. Regardless, our energy policy has certainly been a joke, and it's becoming a disaster of epic proportions.

[Hydrogenman]

Sorry. I missed that post. I believe hydrogen is a key element of the sustainable, renewable energy revolution. I look forward to learning more about your concept of free hydrogen

[mamacat]

We were watching a foreign movie, and one of the characters was driving an electric car, in Norway., so I did some searching with google. They are supposed to start mass producing the "Think" car in September, with test models out now.
Top speed of 62 mph, range over 100miles, cost between $20k and $25k.

So, little Norway, with almost no industrial base, and a population less than the state of Colorado, can make an EV, but the United States can't. How encouraging. What happens if they decide to go into space exploration? Will they leave the U.S. in their dust in that field too?

[Hydrogenman]

Professor Takahashi, the sutff you are writing on Huffington Post is great. Why don't you talk about hydrogen?

[Patrick Takahashi - Huffpost Blogger]

Actually, I did, as Part 1 on FREE hydrogen a couple of days ago. I submitted Part 2 of my 4-Part hydrogen series soon thereafter, but it has not been posted yet. When that gets official, I'll submit Part 3, then Part 4. You can, of course, go to Chapter 3 of SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth in the box on the right.