1. Announce that immediately the government of the United States is going to open federal lands for exploration and drilling.  The federal government controls 259 million acres of U.S. land.  Surely the release of a few hundred thousand of these acres to meet the needs of its citizens will leave millions for pristine parks and endangered species. Estimates by the Department of Interior are that these lands could yield upwards of 31 billion barrels of oil and 231 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

        2. Announce immediate drilling in the Bakken formation of Montana and North Dakota.  Discovered in the 1950s, this formation is said to contain from 3.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil, which is more than Saudi Arabia’s (267 Billion barrels) proven reserves.

        3. Announce that immediately the government will allow exploration and drilling, without restriction, of potential off shore resources which the Department of Interior estimates could yield as much as 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  A consortium of Indian and Chinese Companies are already tapping into this potential 50 miles off of our coast.

        4. Announce that the United States will reinstitute coal gasification.  Until World War II, coal gasification was our primary source of fuel.  The United States has the world’s largest reserves of coal.  Several states are already pursuing pollution free coal plants.  An addition of coal gasification would add another dimension to our energy needs.

        5. Announce that the United States will immediately finance and equip our service station infrastructure with the capacity to store and service cars and trucks with natural gas.  Correspondingly, rather than requiring U.S. car manufacturers to continually increase mileage requirements, require them to offer cars that can be operated on natural gas.  Worldwide, there are over 8 million cars operating on liquefied natural gas--cars offered by GM, Honda, and others.  The United States has one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas.  We only need the infrastructure to make it a reality.

        6. Announce that the United States will immediately suspend all restrictions on the construction of oil refineries.  A new refinery has not been built in the United States since 1976, due to senseless environmental and other government restrictions.

        7. Announce that immediately the United States will suspend regulations restricting the construction of nuclear plants.  Because of environmental and governmental restrictions, the last nuclear plant built in the United States was in 1996.  France derives 75 percent of its electrical needs from nuclear power, and even exports electricity to other countries.  Why shouldn’t the United States do that?  

        After Pearl Harbor, the people of the United States produced the world’s largest fleet of ships, airplanes, and military armament ever amassed to protect the world from those who would destroy us.  And they did this in weeks and months--not years as currently required because of interfering government regulations.  Now we are facing a different kind of enemy--an enemy that will destroy our economy and way of life for our children, our grandchildren, and ourselves.  

 

        It is time to stop talking about energy alternatives and independence from foreign oil producers, and demand the immediate use of our own immense resources to meet current and future energy needs. Alternatives are fine but we should develop them as we utilize our own petroleum resources.  

 

        We have been held hostage to the oil despots and pussyfooting environmentalist far too long.  We should DEMAND that our elected leaders take decisive NOW or we should replace those leaders with people who will act on our behalf.