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America’s New Year’s resolution: declare energy independence!
By Senator Richard T. Moore Legendary Texas Oil and Gas executive T. Boone Pickens has launched a crusade to gain America’s independence from the deadly grip of foreign oil. I’d like to suggest that each of us make a New Year’s resolution to contact President-Elect Obama and our Congressional representatives to ask them to support this vitally important campaign. The United States represents only about 4% of the world’s population, but we consume about 25% of the world’s oil. We need to move away from oil – mostly provided by other countries, including some who harbor groups who want to destroy America. While we can be thankful that the price of gasoline and home heating oil has moderated in recent weeks, there is no assurance that the price will remain affordable. In fact, there’s every reason to believe that unless we change our dependence on foreign oil, our nation will no longer be the “land of the free.” The Pickens plan relies on using all available domestic energy resources, including natural gas, wind, solar, geothermal, hyrdo, nuclear, biofuel, coal, domestic oil, and battery power. Pickens notes that natural gas, which is 80% cleaner than diesel, is readily available and can power the heavy duty vehicles that construct our infrastructure and transport our goods. We don’t have enough domestic oil even if we tap all of our reserves to achieve independence from foreign oil. We can’t afford to keep spending $700 billion a year buying foreign oil! Every president of the United States since Richard Nixon has pledged to end our dependence on foreign oil and none have taken the steps necessary to achieve that goal. We don’t have another fifty years to wait for a solution! The high cost of fuel that we just experienced helped trigger the current recession. Another, longer period of exorbitant energy costs could bring our nation to its knees. We can’t wait for our national leaders, heavily lobbied by oil and chemical company executives, to take the necessary steps toward independence. What will you do? First, join me in going to www.PickensPlan.com and take T. Boone Pickens Energy Independence Pledge. Second, go to the Obama-Biden Transition web site www.Change.gov, click on “Your Seat at the Table,” and urge the new Administration to adopt the Pickens Plan in the first 100 days of the 111th Congress. Third, contact our Congressional representatives and ask them to support energy independence such as the Pickens Plan. Make these three steps your most important New Year’s Resolutions. |
