Do you think America could be energy independent if it was our national goal?

How long would it take? How could it happen? Or is it impossible? Let me know why or why not?

I believe our country's future is in grave danger over our depedency on foreign oil. I believe we fund both sides of the war on terrorism. We pay for our military, but we also send money to OPEC nations. Some of that money finds it's way to terrorists who then are supplied to fight us. I also believe that our national security and foreign policy choices are held hostage by our continuing need for oil. I want to see a future where America can make choices in the world that are independent of our need for foreign supplies of energy.

What is your opinion on this?

I completely agree with your assessment, there is no doubt of 2 things we can or already do.

1) We absolutely could create an oil free environment, but the oil lobby will NEVER let that happen

2) We absolutely fund both sides of the war because certain people want it to continue - for what else MONEY. War, especially in the 20th-21 century's, has become huge business. The banking lobby in the 40's pushing to get us involved in WW2 so the gov't would have to borrow money. Bell Helicopter pushing us to get into Vietnam so they could sell their choppers. Haliburton pushing our current administration so they could charge outrageous prices for "caretaking." And the sad thing is that Americans either don't care or don't wanna know, but they do wanna know who is the next American Idol or who Anna Nicole Smith's babies daddy is.

The original questions seems to beg the issue whether or not such an ambitious project can involve enough people to be effective. Certainly, if the American people do not bore of the project, or willy-nilly find other distractions, they can probably pull together and make the US---to a very great extent---energy independent (and perhaps at the same time, help clean the air we breathe).
Whether the American people are still strong enough to make the hundreds of sacrifices, learn as many new habits, and stop their love affair with cars and throw-away gadgets, is something to be considered.
Z

One thing is for certain...At some point, we will have to get off our dependency on fossil fuels. We consume them faster than they are replenished. We have to protect ourselves and our interests. That becomes significantly easier if we are not dependent on others for our energy resources. It makes no sense for us to pump trillions of dollars into someone elses pockets when we could be pumping that back into our own economy.

If we had our own sources of energy, imagine what our economy would do if all of the money we send abroad purchasing fuel, was put into the US economy.... Can you say bullish?....

Personally it has been my assesment that we indeed can become completely independant of fossil fuels.
The problem will be solved and implemneted, but far to late to save this planet.
The problem with carbons released from burning fossil fuels that it take ten to fifteen years to reach their highest levels when they are most potent to do the most severe, and irreversable damage.
It's not just the oil industry that drives this problem. All corporations and in some way at fault for this dilema.
Auto manafacturers are continually building big gas guseling monsters, and higher horsepower vehichles for those who demand to get from point a to point b now.
Like these supercomputer afficianatoes, who can't use dial up anymore it's just too darn slow.
Even the corporations that are manafacturing the high tech wind machines and solar collectors are burning up the fossil fuels at a faster and faster rate.
Yep the entire world could put a stop to the burning of any fuel that emits carbons, but greed is not going to let it happen till all of those who are making the millions have gotten everything they can for themselves.
When they have sucked the well dry it will be to bad for human kind, because the affects will be long pass reversing, and the generation that will be wearing scott air packs on their backs so they will have breathable air, will end up dying of solar exposure in no-time on the evolutionary clock.
Bye-bye greatgrandchildren, we sacrificed you so we could fly to the caribean, sip pina coladas, and what the girls go by.
Yes I am of the opinion that the doomsday clock has long since passed one!


Love & Peace,
John

"""1) We absolutely could create an oil free environment, but the oil lobby will NEVER let that happen"""

Let's see our farm machinery use water to lube the wheel bearings. You people that think "BIG OIL" is the culprit tickle me because you do NOT seem to have ANY idea what machinery runs on. Hey, here's s heads up, EVEN horse drawn wagons used oil products to lube the axles. So regardless what you think, oil products are going to be with us for centuries to come. The rest of your post is just as silly.

The rest of my post is silly? That makes sense comin from you Samuel, I've read you're posts and you are 2 steps to the right of Atilla the Hun. You are apart of a group of 10 people left that defend Bush because you're "Fascist" glasses can't see anything else, so of course you refuse to believe any of this. I'm sure you and I will never agree on anything

Forget Obama and Clinton, it's much more fun to watch you guys duke it out!
Anyway,

I think it is too late for planet Earth.
However,
I also think our greatgreatgrandchildren will be just fine. That's because as crazy as it sounds, it's always been the "manifest destiny" for humans to expand. Eventually, when Earth has run dry, we're going to turn our attention skyward. We're going to have expand to other planets.

And by then, we might have hopefully learned our lesson, and be more careful about that planet's natural resources.

It seems that the original question was not whether the US could be independent of energy or oil, but whether it would be possible to be independent of foreign sources.
Z

Yes, the rest of your post was silly. The banking lobby pushed to get us into WW 2 back in the 40's??? Hey, if you had said, "The Banking Lobby pushed to get us into WW 1 back in the teens", I would hve agreed. But WW 2? Heads up, Japan attacked us iat the end of 1941, so that didn't give the "Banking Lobby" much time to push now did it?

Next, ""We absolutely fund both sides of the war because certain people want it to continue - for what else MONEY"".

Oh, we are funding Al Qaeda???since when? When did this funding start? We funded both sides of Viet nam? Please explain. We funded both sides of the Korean War? How so?? And since you didn't put any restrictions on it, are you saying we also funded Japan and Germany in WW 2???

""War, especially in the 20th-21 century's, has become huge business. ""

YES!!!, War is the biggest business in the world. And guess what party was in office for 19 of the 20 years we were at war in the 20th Century??? The DEMOCRATS!!!! Congratulations, Leftest, you have been a part of the problem all along!!!

""Bell Helicopter pushing us to get into Vietnam so they could sell their choppers.""

Bell was writing with red ink in 1962 and was in the black by 1965, guess who invested heavily in Bell in 1962??? I'll give you three guesses who it was and all three will be wrong. Try Lady Bird Johnson. She took her profits from that and invested it in Colt Arms and guess what weapon we switched to? The M-16. So once again you have been looking in the wrong direction, leftest.

"""Haliburton pushing our current administration so they could charge outrageous prices for "caretaking."""

And of course you have the documents to prove this allegation, right??? Let's see, gas was around 2 dollars a gallon and we needed to get it from HERE to Iraq over night. And you wanted us to put it on a tanker ship and send it around the horn, correct??? Hey, there's only one way to get it there over night and that is by air and air is expensive. Haliburton just happened to be about the only one around that had what was needed to get the job done NOW!!! But of course your to blind to see the logistics of the problem aren't you.



"""And the sad thing is that Americans either don't care or don't wanna know, but they do wanna know who is the next American Idol or who Anna Nicole Smith's babies daddy is.""


I, for one, don't care a thing about any of this but I DO care about national security which you want to stick your head in the sand about.

"""..because you're "Fascist" glasses can't see anything else.."""

Don't even start with the "Fascist""" nonsense when it's you on the left that want to stop people from discussing the issues using the power of government to achieve that goal!!! Think not??? What do you think the so called ""Fairness Doctrine"" that your side keeps harping about is for??? SHUTTING PEOPLE UP THAT DISAGREE WITH YOU!!!! Sorry, it's the Left that comes the closest to being "Fascist".


"""I'm sure you and I will never agree on anything""

That's where your wrong again. We do agree on something. And the jest of that is, when you make silly statements, I'm going to call you on them.

This post has been edited by Samuel: Jan 23 2008, 04:21 PM

Considering we still have Anwr, the Gulf Coast (if we would start now, if not China will have most of it), the West Coast, and if we uncap the wells already drilled in this state it would help. If you uncap the so called pumped out wells in the mid west I think you would be in for a shock, you will find that they are either full again or nearly so. I believe that in the long run you will find that oil is a renewable resource. And before anyone starts with the name calling;



http://www.oralchelation.com/faq/wsj4.htm

This post has been edited by Samuel: Jan 23 2008, 04:38 PM

I know, I talk too much!
So here it is consisely as I can get
.
Yes! We can become completely self sufficient and independant!

The quetion should be: will it take place?

Not until the profiteers find the way to line their pockets first!

Love & Peace,
John

John, please go to work during the month of February and tell your employer to keep your pay checks for the month because you don't want to profit by your work. Are you starting to get the point. NO ONE DOES ANYTHING WITH OUT GETTING PAIED, NOT EVEN YOU!!!

Wow, everything you said there you took into a world that can only be described as the "full of s#$%#@ world." Though without breaking down everything you said, i'll stick with just you're Haliburton comment. Now, I want little fascist Samuel to explain this to me. In 1994, CLEARLY in an interview, Dick Cheney(you're boy who likes to shoot his own friends) said, "No, we shouldn't go into Iraq because we could never get out even if it was in retaliation." Though, he becomes VP and now suddenly changes his mind. Now Samuel, I want you to say it with me, H - A - L - I - B - U - R - T - O - N.

Though, I'm sure you're gonna come back with 9/11 which we all know is a lie told to the American people. I give you credit though, you obviously have an understanding of history, it just your perception is skewed by those fascist glasses. I think you outta go to Lens Crafters and get a new pair

"we all know" - by "we" you mean the people who don't have tin-foil hats, right?

Maybe this would be a separate topic rather than side-track this topic?