Letters to the Editor
Rambling Rose 22
Published Letters: 757 Editor's Choice: 6
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ANSWER IS NOT MORE OIL - IT'S LESS OIL!
[Read the article: So long, John -- gas is $4 a gallon]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If it's not gasoline, it's natural gas or electricity. And don't even get me started on the Obama-Rama nuclear power plant solution! It's the same companies that own these plants that also are the greedy pigs at the energy trough.
For example, I had some over-zealous Obama nut corner me(he from NYC and me from Ohio) and try to tell me that my oil-using car required that we start building more nuclear power plants! Meaning: the solution isn't to do away with the gas-guzzling vehicles, the solution is to start building more nuclear power plants. When asked if he knew how much water it took to run one nuclear power plant, he just stood there befuddled.
The average person has NO IDEA HOW MUCH WATER IT TAKES TO RUN ONE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT. States are fighting over water, we have severe droughts in parts of the country, and Obama wants to build more nuclear power plants that suck up water like a massive drain! I think it has more to do with the conributions he gets from the industry than any real practical solution.
There is just one way to deal with this:
1. Demand that passenger vehciles that use gasoline be off the roads in 10 years. Render gas passenger vehicles, including pick-up trucks, obsolete and be done with it.
2. Since gas-powered passenger vehicles will not be permitted in the U.S. after 10 years, the auto and pick-up truck manufacturers will have to haul ass to start producing real alternative vehicles, not the play-actor hybrids they sell to the rich these days.
3. Individuals and families who's incomes fall under a certain level will get assistance in purchasing a non-gas vehicle. Everyone who owns a vehicle will get a "trade-in value" at the time of purchase.
4. Businesses in the transportation industry who can or will convert to non-oil/diesel vehicles can get the inevitable tax break. Hell, we give tax breaks and government subsidies for everything under the sun.
5. Require all new homes and commercial buildings to be "green" and healthy, including use of passive solar, and interior materials that are formaldehyde-free, etc. And while we're at it, establish new codes for natural disaster areas like the South, California, etc. for building. Just giving tax credits doesn't hack it anymore - it has to be mandated in order to reduce consumption.
6. Start creating and developing more convenient, clean, and practical mass transporation systems, including high-speed rail.. I'm not sitting on a bus next to some homeless guy with body odor reaking of last night's binge. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but that's the reality.
7. Pass mandatory emissions and pollutions laws and ENFORCE THEM. Our air and water are a mess! Pharmaceuticals in our water - chemicals in our air. Just do it.
8. Make recycling mandatory for every state and every municipality. Stop leaving it up to the "enlightened ones" to clean up the earth. It's everyone's responsibility and recycling should be easy for everyone.
9. Increase federal funds to hire more ports inspectors to check every piece of food and product that enters this country and make it clear that we will NOT accept inferior products that make us sick or kill us. And put out of business any company, foreign or domestic, that violates our laws.
10. Force any company that closes up plants here to have to clean up their environmental mess or face huge financial penalties and prison time for CEO's.
Americans understand the problem but will not change until and unless they are forced to change - that's the fact of the matter. And if they are tired of killing - and being killed - for the oil, then they will accept the change.