Our Soundbite Energy Policy

Both Republican and Democratic politicians are using the national energy debate to practice their old style 'politics of getting elected'. They persist in using dialogue that appeals to an American public they seem to consider to be gullible, ignorant and senseless by compressing the country's energy policy into a 30 second sound-bite aimed at television. Instead, they should be tailoring the discussion to include the nuances of a comprehensive policy that speaks to all of the country's needs.

I'm talking about energy proposals from both sides of the aisle that demonstrate lazy thought and half-truths. Take for instance the John McCain, and Republican Party, sound bite. It is a simplistic proposal to solve the energy crisis by framing it as a gas price issue that can be solved by off-shore drilling; McCain wants to, "Drill here and drill now." Leading Republicans and some conservative columnists have echoed that narrative to the point where "drill, drill, drill" has become the Republican mantra,

In this regard the Democrats, also, are not without sin. Kentucky Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford, like Hillary Clinton, supports a gas tax holiday. And Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is pushing to "Free Our Oil!" by calling for an opening of the taps of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Both of these proposals, like McCain's, frame the discussion as a gas price issue. All three proposals are simplistic and therefore are distractions from a full-throated discourse on energy

America deserves better than these 'old politics' distractions which are a great disservice to our country. They only detract from an honest debate on energy policy. We need a comprehensive energy policy appropriate to the worldwide environment of today and the challenges that lay ahead. It should be a policy that is capable of ensuring America's continued prosperity and security as a nation.

If the energy debate is contained to only the price of oil and gas then the U.S. will get caught up, yet again, in improperly framing and simplifying the national energy dialogue. Debating so called solutions such as off shore drilling, the gas tax holiday, opening up the national oil reserve and opening up ANWAR all suggest that, somehow, gasoline and oil prices will be lower in the future.

It's time to realize the days of cheap oil and gasoline are gone and will never return. Our past use of oil is a failed energy policy. It's time to think about a national comprehensive energy policy without oil. It's time to truly solve the problem rather than continue to feed America's oil addiction.