Opinion By David Gisch
djgisch@gmail.com
In his State of the Union speech in 2006, George W. Bush said America was “addicted to oil.”
Unless something dramatic that I missed has happened, we still are in the same boat.
Whether the U.S. economy or the world’s environment can sustain the current oil usage, something has to be done.
The United States has only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, yet we use one-quarter of the oil produced worldwide annually.
That means we are sending an unfeasible amount of money overseas every year to hostile regimes and to our enemies instead of investing our resources here at home to promote a stronger economy and create jobs.
It might not be the easiest thing for the United States to do, but in order to see change on a large scale, more drilling must be done in the Arctic and inland in the country.
More than three out of five barrels of oil the nation consumes go toward transportation.
Through more precise engine refining and new alternative fuel sources, the time to hop on the clean emission hybrid movement never could be better.
Before the United States can stop importing all this foreign oil, alternative energy resources that are available need to be used to the fullest extent.
The U.S. needs to make vehicles significantly more fuel-efficient while commercializing electric vehicles.
The boost in electric vehicle sales is a small, but needed, step in the right direction to lowering oil use.
Developing cleaner, alternative non-oil-based fuels such as advanced biofuels and natural gas also will play a key role in stopping the importation of foreign oil.
And the Texas Panhandle should harness the one thing it has in abundance. No, not meth. Wind.
Why the area’s millionaires haven’t made an alternative energy empire with wind farms is beyond me, but it still is up for grabs.
West Texas A&M University has three windmills in place, with only one running at any time.
Why not set up a field of windmills in an unused field to power the entire university for years to come?
Originally published: Thursday, October 20, 2011
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