The energy thing is the thing now. This is as it should be. Energy is power, and we need our own sources of energy.

It is pretty obvious and most of the pundits on both sides are saying that we need to do things about Global Climate Change and Energy.

Now, I do not entirely buy into Global Warming. To my mind the jury is still out in terms of real science in that field. I suspect that President Bush has decided it is real not because he or his advisors believe it is real but because it makes a good excuse to work on the energy issue.

So, we do need an emphasis on developing new sources of energy. President Obama should ignore all other issues and focus on this one alone. Proper steps to address the energy issue will fix all other issues.

He should study how President Roosevelt financed WWII and follow a similar course. Impose high marginal tax rates to limit inflation, and then engage in massive government spending. The money goes out from the government, is spent in wages and work, percolates up through the population to the wealthy and then returns to the government via higher taxation. You get the work and progress without the massive debt.

He must sell his programs to the people by speaking to them regularly as Roosevelt did with his fireside chats. Without the peoples support he can do nothing.

But all of that being said, what should he do. The Energy problem is not quite as simple as winning a war.

First, he should look at the energy distribution system or grid. It is old and weak and needs major revamps. So he needs to ensure that a watt of energy generated in California can travel to New York with minimum cost and loss.

This ties in with creating a distributed energy creation network. The Federal Highway System should be used for these dual purposes. The possibility of building wind and solar energy collection along the highways, instead of in special purpose solar and wind energy farms should be investigated. Such energy generated along the highways could be dumped into the new energy transportation net to meet energy needs all over the country. This would also provide jobs in construction and later maintenance for these facilities throughout the nation. The right to maintain and sell the energy created on what is essentially federally owned land could be leased to current energy companies.

Hydrogen generation plants should be created where there is large amounts of water available. The coastal regions primarily. The energy from the solar and wind plants should be changed into hydrogen so it can be stored and transported and used as fuel in various applications. Oxygen from this process should be sold by private industry in bottles for general consumption.

Given a supply of hydrogen and energy, cars which use electricity and hydrogen will suddenly become much more feasible.

All of this will create new jobs and new industries. Which will address the current problems in the economy.

There will be short time costs and minor hardships involved, like the rationing during WWII. Selling the idea that new energy infrastructure requires these sacrifices is a major job which President Obama must face.

I read the technical briefs and science news fairly regularly, usually once a week sometimes only once a month. There does not seem to be a magic bullet in solar or wind energy yet. The efficiency keeps creeping up. Different approaches keep showing promise and promising discoveries are constantly being made. I cannot point to a single thing which says, "This is IT".

One thing though. Mass production will lower costs of most items. An attitude of getting this done cheaply because it has to be done, instead of trying to do it to make as many billions of dollars as possible for the stockholders will also lower costs.

Emphasis should be on technology which will last with minimum maintenance to give returns over the long haul. Solar technologies should be installed in a manner which allows for systematic upgrades as those technologies become more and more efficient.

I do not care about Nuclear energy one way or another. Nuclear plants are targets for terrorists and require additional security measures. Possibly they should only be built on major military bases where they can be easily safeguarded. We have a lot of military bases across the country, and with a good energy grid, energy generated there can be sent anywhere in the country.

I look at this problem with some trepidation. I am not at all sure what specific measures in specific areas will succeed best. Still, Wind energy, like hydroelectric energy is worth investing in. The Hoover dam is still making energy today. Solar energy facilities must be designed to be revamped with new technologies as the field is constantly changing.

I am reminded that men like Ayers or Akers or whatever he is called were outraged back in the 60s by the fact that large energy companies had plans for making new plants and creating new energy. They were horrified that these big business people were making these plans for the future without consulting everyone.

After decades of that sort of things, we are now faced with a new kind of crisis. We have to buy the gasoline to run our tanks from the people we are using the tanks against. They on the other hand, have to sell us the gasoline to pay for their propaganda and welfare programs.

America really must be reborn as an energy self-sufficient entity. I like the environment as much as the next guy, but that is not why. It must be done so that we no longer need to worry about 150 dollar a barrel oil.

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"Yankee-Do: The Way of the American" A book I wrote never published about 8 years ago.

While I agree that energy technology is perhaps the number one priority there is a huge difference between now and FDR's adminstration. The US has an overwhelming national debt and there simply isn't any government money to pay for such an enterprise. This is something that will have to depend upon a national movement without government funding. Tax incentives could help but government funding is really out of the question these days.

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Soldiers swear to protect and defend the Constitution with their lives.

Politicians swear to protect and defend the Constitution with someone else's life.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that he should ignore everything else. In fact, this economic crisis is the top priority, followed by energy.

You're exactly right: we need to become energy independent to maintain economic sovereignty, and to protect the environment.

There's an ultimatum facing the American people in the near future. A few points first:

1. Within 30 years, Oil will simply be gone. At the current rate of consumption (U.S., China, India, Europe, etc), this non-renewable resource will either be depleted, or $500+ per barrel.
2. All of the solar, wind, clean coal, and other clean renewables combined will not be enough to maintain our current standards of living.
3. Nuclear energy is the only form of energy (coupled with the clean renewables) that will allow us to maintain our standard of living. It is expensive, though, to say the least.

So the Ultimatum:
Sacrifice standard of living, or subsidize nuclear energy. The problem with subsidizing is that we have no money to do it. So, the ultimatum really becomes:

Sacrifice or Socialize?

I don't think the 275,000,000 Americans who make less than $250,000 will mind the latter, unfortunately.

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Philosophy of Liberty : Individual Sovereignty