We Are In A Mess

We are in a mess. Our economy is very shakey, some say recession, so say not, but all say it is not good. Our lovely sub prime mortage mess gave us a nice nudge causing us to slide a fair amount. Doubling the price of gasoline in a short time certainly did not help matters, and that will ripple out in price increases in so many directions. Don’t forget to factor in the flooding in the Midwest, our fall harvest is not going to be too great, to say the least. That has already driven up the price of corn, some portion of which is used to produce ethanol.

In my opinion, the economic situation is of a scale that it becomes a top national security concern. And to me, that is a very significant step. Again in my opinion, national security is always number 1 – if we don’t exist, it doesn’t matter.

The question of the day, what do we do? For starters, we recognize that our two biggest, most immediate issues, national security and the economy, are both tied to Oil. If we can solve that, we can have a much much better environment to live in. Yeah, lofty goal, world peace. But ponder seriously for a moment, what if we were energy independent, did not need to import one barrel from anyone. All of a sudden the middle east becomes far less important to us. Instead of trying to function in the area as a desperate customer of oil, we can function as a world power trying to do what is best for the world. The oil exporters will still export their oil, but the demand will be cut to ribbons by our independence. China and India are eagerly importing ever increasing amounts of oil, however, if we are no longer buying oil, I cannot reasonably see the price increasing dramatically again, and it could well come down.

That was one of my prognostications, here, look at the definition here. I am not claiming to be a genius, but when I look at the evidence, the preceding paragraph certainly seems a realistic outcome to me. But I have to admit, there are lots and lots of unproven assumptions that I am using to reach my conclusion. They are unproven because I have been unable thus far to find the answers. Doing the research is tedious. Shoot, our politician’s don’t bother to cite their sources, nor does the media. Fox News said in 1973 we were importing 35% of our oil, today we are importing 60%.

I have been led to believe that we have enough resources in ANWR, off shore areas, oil shale, coal and nuclear to be able to become energy independent, in a relatively short time, 10 years’ish. But there’s the hitch, you will note I said that I had been led to believe, I did not say I know for a fact. How many of you would have to say the same thing about your pretty solid beliefs on energy issues. My beliefs are based on the information I pick up along life’s way, same as for all of us. My primary source of news is Fox News. I think they are pretty good, but nope, I have never put them to a rigorous test. I think it is time that I do so. I think it is time that we all put all of our sources of information to some rigourous testing.

There is a whole slew of rhetoric flying around out there, let’s call it what it is, propaganda, and it is coming at us from all sides. Much of it, far far too much of it is coming at us in an emotionally charged way. We see the pundits, two liberal and two conservative, sit down in their four little boxes, and argue it out, often times complete with shouting matches. And that touches our emotions, and as soon as emotions are touched, our judgment skills begin declining. That is what ‘the establishment’ is feeding us, and it’s a bunch of BS. It inhibits our ability to make solid decisions.

We have 35 years of history fighting this very same issue, and we have done a lot, a whole lot, more than any of us can remember. Let’s work at remembering it, and looking at it, what did we try, and how did it work? Let’s put together a time line, gather the story in some sort of logical manner so we can all understand how we got to where we are right now. That will take a lot of time, but we can start with the big hitters to increase production, drilling in ANWR and/or off shore and nuclear for example, as well as ways to meet our energy needs in other ways, such as alternative fuels, solar, nuclear, any source, let’s be creative. But somehow we have to get to energy independence. In my opinion, this is the single most important issue facing us today, by far.

I am soliciting help. I will do as much as I can, but I will need help from a bunch of people, the more the merrier. This will be a major undertaking that will require a huge amount of effort. But if we can all get together, share our ideas, our knowledge and our resources, we can do it. We can create a factual history of or efforts on the energy crisis. The project will take time, and we are all busy, even me though I am retired. But if we all pitch in what we can, maybe one week a half hour, maybe as much as 2 or 3 the next, or whatever. Let’s all try to put some effort into it. I am going to try requesting help from media, business, and political sources, maybe we can convince one, or hopefully both, campaigns to help supply the facts, documented of course.

It is time to truly think outside the box on solving this problem. If you want to help answer the questions, and figure out what questions to ask, then post a response. I hope I can find a few enthusiastic people to jump in right away and figure out how to set it all up. I have some ideas, but hey, I’m just one person.