How are you dealing with these gasoline prices? Please weigh in. Folks, we’ve got an energy crisis. How do we solve it? I would like to hear your thoughts.
With every week bringing a new record high in gasoline prices something has to give. Rapidly rising energy costs have a crippling effect on many layers of the economy. So what do we do?
Personally I think it needs to start at the top. We need a true visionary plan coming out of the White House. We need a vision like the one President Kennedy had for the space program in the 1960’s. It’s the type of vision that fires the imagination and the collective passion of the public.
I ran across the quote the other day that fired my imagination. It came from Cal Tech Chemistry Professor Nate Lewis. He said: “More solar energy hits the earth in one hour than all the energy the world consumes in a year." Let that sink in for a few minutes. Lewis believes there are inexpensive ways to convert solar power directly into electricity. Lewis says water could be converted into “fuel like hydrogen, that can be turned back into electricity on demand.” Lewis says one day you may put paint on your house that captures electrons from the sun and ultimately powers all your gadgets and heats your home.
That sort of thinking isn’t going to stop today’s pain at the pump. We need short and long term strategies. We need to develop more energy sources right away and additional ones on down the line.
I look forward to driving a clean and green fuel cell car one day. It can happen sooner than you think with leadership, determination and a national spirit of energy independence and environmental stewardship.






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In the case of cars and gasoline, the fact is that just about every American is limited by what is commercially available on the market. You can publish all the warm, fuzzing, geeky stories you want about experimental vehicles and alternate fuels, but if those products are not available to the market, don't expect to ever reap the benefits.
The oil companies don't want you to conserve. They also don't want to spend the money to outfit gas stations with alternate fuels. The automobile companies don't want to produce more fuel efficien and/or alternate power source cars because they are too expensive and it impacts their profit per car. Together they are somewhat joined at the hip in that one has to wait on the other to produce products the other can use.
We're in for a bumpy ride.
GOLO member since July 5, 2007
May 23, 2008 12:28 p.m.
That wouldn't work for everyone in every job but if we were more creative in our commuting strategies and took some cars off of the road yet remained productive, it could be of real help.
GOLO member since August 16, 2007
May 23, 2008 11:34 a.m.
Jimbo: America's HAD time, especially since the 70's when we went through a similar situation with gas.
I think there are probably MANY who've already had visions & have tried implementing them for decades now. I think those visions have been squashed by the oil & auto industry. The costs to develop these ideas have been & are now prohibitive.
Living in CO in the 70's & 80's, I saw that solar energy was becoming the norm in newly-built homes. Come back east - a foreign concept. In TX yrs ago, you could see miles & miles of windmills; also saw huge evidence of their use in Monument, CO along I-25. Come back east - NIMBY in effect.
In CO, I drove a carpool for over 3 yrs 75 miles one way to work. Tried that here - nobody interested.
Foreign car makers are swelling our country with their better-mileage cars because US car makers aren't getting it!!
More words for debate.
GOLO member since June 19, 2008
May 23, 2008 10:24 a.m.
May 23, 2008 9:45 a.m.
GOLO member since March 1, 2008
May 23, 2008 9:03 a.m.
May 23, 2008 8:58 a.m.
May 23, 2008 8:20 a.m.
May 22, 2008 5:03 p.m.
GOLO member since August 3, 2007
May 22, 2008 4:53 p.m.
Which do you think is easier to do: 1) Get the President and Congress to do something or 2) Solve the problem ourselves?
GOLO member since July 27, 2007
May 22, 2008 4:45 p.m.
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