Yesterday, was declared
Dependence Day by
Environmental Action. As of today, proportionally speaking, all of the oil we use must be imported. The US can only supply 5 months worth of domestic oil for a given year. The site has a lot of interesting information and some action items.
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The fact that the US only has 2% of the oil left in the world, and the fact that we currently use over 25% of the oil produced should make everyone Democrat and Republican alike realize that we can't drill our way out of this. We can drill off shore, in ANWR, under the World Trade Center Memorial, on the moon, or in unicorn carcasses, but it still won't make any more oil. Anyone that doesn't admit that attacking the demand side of the equation is the only viable option should be ignored if not publically ridiculed. The best that any other solutions can do is delay the inevitable by destroying American treasures. The folks at Dependence Day do have some solutions and bold goals.
If we start today, we can make oil obsolete in 50 years.
This will be America's greatest challenge. But when we succeed, U.S. foreign policy will never again be dictated by oil, the fight against global warming will be greatly advanced, and our economy will be more stable.
To break free, we need to transform our transportation sector, which accounts for nearly 70% of all the oil we consume. More than 14 million barrels of oil are used each day just moving people and goods around this country. We need to increase the efficiency of our cars and trucks, develop clean alternatives to oil, and provide Americans with more transportation choices.
They go into detail specifically on fuel efficiency, biofuels, and public transit, but they don't get into the nitty gritty like DKos' Energize America or the Senate Democrats' Energy Independence 2020.
I really hope that Democrats push energy independence in the build-up to November. In the coming months Democrats are going to need to start telling the American public what a Democratic congress would do for them, and I hope that energy independence is at the top of that list. It ties easily to national security, gas prices, jobs, and farms. The bold solutions necessary to address these issues conjure up images of American vision and innovation that seem to have stagnated in recent years.
So, go to Dependence Day and let your congresscritter know that energy independence matters to you and it sure as hell better matter to them.
Posted to Daily Kos Environmentalists.