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Politics : THE WHITE HOUSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MJ who wrote (21950)	9/6/2008 11:38:47 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 25737

"Well I wouldn't say that we have not been moving in that direction...." I just meant that we import a higher percentage of the energy that we consume (mostly as oil...) now then we did then. "Do you think that the population growth and increased demand has anything to do with our being further away from the goal of energy independence since the 1970's." Well... I'd say that, sure, both of those are factors, but it is also true that we are now much more efficient in how we use energy (energy consumed per unit of national product) then we were back then. Obviously though, there is a lot of 'heavy lifting' a lot of serious work that we have avoided doing to improve our situation. (Oil is mostly used as a fuel for transportation... but, back in the 'seventies we imported, what? Around 40% of our annual consumption, right? What's the figure now? In the mid-to-high 60% range I believe....) I think ole T. Boone Pickens might have a point --- that natural gas (until hydrogen is feasible) maybe should be used for transportation as much as possible. We've got lots and lots of North American natural gas reserves (& lots of 'free' wind and sunlight also, now that I think of it)... and it certainly could only HELP the American economy if we didn't have to spent any further HUNDREDS of BILLIONS of Dollars in 'defending' the petty Dictatorships and Monarchies and Autocracies of the oil-exporting Persian Gulf region....