[backhoe]

Allow me to drop out of Lurk and Link Mode for a brief bit of commentary- we all need to get serious about our dependency on foreign sources of energy, and use our own resources.

Our consumer-based economy is driven by and dependent on readily-available, reliable energy-- choke that off, and we'll all be back to using one rotary dial phone in the dining room, watching one TV, and driving one car per family-- probably a Hudson Hornet or a Rambler...

We need to

1) end the nonsensical ban on offshore drilling off California and Florida--read & weep:
Castro Plans to Drill 45 Miles from US Shores, But We Can't

2) build a lot of next-generation nuclear power plants, not just for electricity, but for any process requiring heat, power, or steam.
And if we replaced our existing nuclear plants with this one there would be significant benefits.

3) end Jimmy Carter's idiotic ban on recycling nuclear waste, and reprocess the stuff rather than fighting over where to bury it. Europe has done this for decades.-- what to do with spent nuclear fuel? Answer here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1468321/posts?page=50#50 hattip:  Mike (former Navy Nuclear Engineer)

4) use the 300-500 years worth of coal we have on our own land, using the new clean-coal technology.
-Clean Coal Centre--

5) and finally, there's nothing wrong with conservation, we should all practice it- but you can't conserve your way out of a shortage. Nor is there anything wrong with "alternative" energy sources- except they don't supply the vast ( not to mention readily-available ) amounts of power we need at a price competitive to more conventional sources.

We do need to get serious about this before we get strangled by a bunch of petty thieves and dictators who don't like us much.

My tongue-in-cheek collection of energy-related links:

Sticker Shock-$3 a gallon gas? Click the picture:

And kindly note, and note well-- the first reply to this post ( when gas was $1.45 a gallon ) was derisive... so, who's laughing now? Drudge reports $4.04 a gallon gas in CA today...

[singfreedom]

Backhoe, have you ever considered running for the Senate?

Your plan sounds fantastic. Hubby and I will vote for you!

[GOPJ]

1) end the nonsensical ban on offshore drilling off California and Florida--read & weep: Castro Plans to Drill 45 Miles from US Shores, But We Can't

2) build a lot of next-generation nuclear power plants, not just for electricity, but for any process requiring heat, power, or steam. And if we replaced our existing nuclear plants with this one there would be significant benefits.

OK. OK. OK. If you'll run, I'll vote for you too, Backhoe. And please, keep spreading the word about Florida. Castro and/or the Mexicans will be selling us oil that should have been ours. Jeb needs to wake up and get real.

[GOPJ]

1) end the nonsensical ban on offshore drilling off California and Florida--read & weep: Castro Plans to Drill 45 Miles from US Shores, But We Can't

2) build a lot of next-generation nuclear power plants, not just for electricity, but for any process requiring heat, power, or steam. And if we replaced our existing nuclear plants with this one there would be significant benefits.

OK. OK. OK. If you'll run, I'll vote for you too, Backhoe. And please, keep spreading the word about Florida. Castro and/or the Mexicans will be selling us oil that should have been ours. Jeb needs to wake up and get real.

[spectre]

Good post. We immediately need to drill our own proven oil finds to include Alaska, offshore California and the Gulf. We need to immediately construct another 50 - 100 nuclear powerplants.

We should have done this 20 years ago but must start NOW for energy independence.

Any other "plan" is total obfuscating bullshit.

[MadIvan]

One final addition to your plan - remove the bias against diesel engines in environmental and tax policy, and in fact, encourage its usage. Diesel technology is a gateway technology for use of "bio-diesel".

Diesel engines consistently get better fuel consumption ratings than hybrids.

Regards, Ivan