What is the best plan to get off foreign oil fast?

Question

In light of Hugo's and Iran's desires to control the world oil market and hurt the US isn't it time we get off foreign oil fast? Is it possible for the left and right to compromise? Perhaps advance the green initiatives of high vehicle fuel standards, more mass transit, more bio diesel and in return the left give up a little on some domestic drilling?

Answer 1

Make it so ridiculously expensive that the people start screaming for an alternative. Government only takes action when the people demand it.

Answer 2

Wow - you ask some very good questions...the BEST part is:
"is it possible for the left and right to compromise"

I believe that is the key - when we all agree to work together for the greater good.

I really don't know what will turn off the foreign oil quickly.
There is some much built around the golden calf of crude oil that it would be difficult to get the true believers to worship another god.

Here's my assessment on how to turn our crude addiction around:

America is a big energy hog.

The first thing is mandatory rules:
energy conservation and recycling.
These two efforts will curb the drain on the power grid.

Next, incorporating passive and active solar energy into the power grid.
Follow that with wind, hydro and thermal energy sources.
If we boost usage in renewable energy sources it automatically leads to more research which means development of more efficient ways to capture those resources.

Third - and this is a tough one - restrict new petro-fueled vehicles to very high fuel-efficiency standards.

Fourth - mandate new building codes nationwide that incorporate neighborhoods where people can walk to the grocery store or other shops, instead of having to drive several miles to the mega-mall for their basic needs.
Those same codes would incorporate more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly paths instead of wide concrete or asphalt roads.
Also - stop all road-widening projects - this will NOT increase traffic flow, it only causes more congestion and wasted fuel.

Finally - develop a mass transit system that uses rail as a way to get around town and from city-to-city.

Answer 3

Drill the Gulf of Mexico more. There is an estimated 3 trillion + barrels to be found using new drilling technologies. I think it is there but it is a matter of time until they extract it. In the meantime we need to take economical measures. Hike the price by added tax to stem off the desire for fuel so only those who need it will buy it; and to go Nuclear. even if we find a lot more crude in the Gulf that does not mean we can go back to ignoring the issue. We must hold on to that tightly and to use it sparingly while not exporting any. Do this while dependency is decreased through economic measures.

Also, Saudi and the other Middle East oil rigs are losing the ability of tapping the well efficiently due to old technology. They don't know how to make the advance stuff we are using. I say we "rent" them our extraction equipment for wells! Or some type of substantial subsidy. Make their oil workk for us, because eventually they will lose their advantage in oil. It will be back to the stone ages again for them seeing that their economies are made of not much else!

Answer 4

How about industry just builds wind and solar farms so we wouldn't have to burn anything to get electricity? According to the Discovery channel 40% of our fossil fuel consumption used provides us with electricity. Knock that down to nothing and Hugo and Amadinajaid become essentially powerless.

If government does it I want to see a profit. And I want that profit used to pay off the debt.

-Perhaps advance the green initiatives of high vehicle fuel standards,

You can't legislate fuel efficency any more than you can really legislate morality.

- more mass transit,

Oh yeah but what about the red states where people don't live on top of each other?

- more bio diesel

In case you didn't notice the price of grain is shooting up and the cost raising cattle and other livestock is climbing faster than the ROI on livestock.

-and in return the left give up a little on some domestic drilling?

To heck with that. You can't keep finding new oil. Let's wean ourselves off while we have the chance. We gave up on whale oil didn't we? Let's do the same with oil oil.

Answer 5

It's long past time to cut dependency on foreign oil for energy. The means for energy self-sufficiency have been around for decades, too - nuclear power - but we haven't done anything to advance that option for the last 30 years.

No 'green initiatives,' like fuel efficiency standards, mass transit no one will use, bio diesel that crowds out food crops and raises the cost of food, and, conversely, pumping token quantities of oil out of the odd wildlife preserve won't do have a meaningful impact.

Answer 6

The technology may already be there, but it is extremely cost prohibitive.

And government subsidies often accomplish little besides lining a few pockets and messing up market pricing signals.

For an example, look at the fallout from the corn ethanol subsidies, and the resulting surge in food prices.

Answer 7

Man, I like Grumpy's spirit!

We currently have the tech, and more importantly, the natural resources, to wean ourselves off foreign oil.

And,as someone else noted, it's the desire that seems to be lacking.

Answer 8

We have the technology to go completely green but we are moving at a snails pace to get there

Answer 9

It is time to kick Citgo's @ss out of the country. He calls our president the Devil and we let him do business here? And we allow Iran's leader to come here and speak without arresting his terrorist @ss? What the hell have we come to be?

Answer 10

Drill here.