National Energy Policy Petition
‘Gather the best minds that America has to offer and develop a viable, affordable, deliverable alternative fuel by 2010’
The time has come for a concerted national effort to identify and
commercialize a viable alternative to foreign oil dependence.
Not in 20 or 30 years, but before 2010.
Is this achievable?
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Updates:
This website was launched in the Fall of 2005. Originally developed in the aftermath of Katrina and other hurricanes - current events including; North Korea, Iran, Israel/Lebanon and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela make this petition and its singular aim even more imperative
7-15-06 - I am rewording the petition and moving the actual petition itself to a new service. This move and rewording will necessitate losing those signatures the petition had received to date. I’d like to thank all of those who signed the initial petition and ask them to please sign the new petition here.
Why Change the Petition?
The original host of the petition seems to be having technical problems, I hope that the new platform will be more stable. Secondly, I wanted to simplify the wording of the petition itself in an effort to make the petition as acceptable as possible to the broadest possible audience. The original premise of the petition has remained unchanged - that we need a ‘Manhattan Project’ for alternative fuel NOW! The political, economic and security risks associated with continued dependence on foreign oil is unacceptable. We must mount the same type of national effort we undertook to go the the moon and build the first atomic bomb. This petition takes no position on what the nature of that alternative energy should be. This is too critical to approach with any preconceptions. Any solution that provides a safe, renewable, deliverable alternative to foreign oil should be investigated.
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Look at the following timelines -
October 9th 1941, President Roosevelt gives the go-ahead for the development of the atomic bomb. July 16th 1945, the worlds’ first atomic detonation takes place in New Mexico.
On May 25th 1961 President Kennedy called for the United States to be the first country to land a man on the moon. On July 20th 1969, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.
It is not that we can’t solve our energy problem, we simply lack the national will to make it happen
This petition advocates the immediate development of a ‘Manhattan Project’ type federal effort to create a viable, economical, renewable energy resource that will dramatically decrease the United States’ dependence on foreign oil.
This website and associated petition neither endorses nor opposes any particular form of alternative energy, but rather is focused on one sole purpose;
We call for the creation of a team of alternative energy experts, from the academic, public and private sectors, selected, funded and managed by the government to create a viable alternative energy source that can quickly and effectively be brought to market.
America is a crisis oriented society. We never seem to solve a problem or take an action until our backs are against the wall. Once we are in that position, we have an amazing ability to develop solutions. History shows us again and again that this is a fundamental part of the American psyche.
We have arrived at such a time in our history. Gasoline is over $3.00 a gallon, crude oil flirts with the $70 a barrel mark, international demand for fuel increases daily, natural disasters interrupt supplies, speculators disrupt normal market forces, political unrest and terrorism threaten oil producing regions and yet we have made no concerted effort to solve the problem.
An alternative form of energy would have unparalleled impact on the geopolitical, economic and environmental future of not only this country, but the world. It is time that the United States committed it’s technical, scientific, intellectual and financial resources to solve our energy problem. We have made such efforts in the past; building the atomic bomb and landing the first man on the moon, critical efforts that were vital to the security of this country. We stand at such a time today and it is imperative that we make that same level of effort to solve our dependence on foreign oil.
How did we arrive at this untenable position? Resistance to domestic oil production, a lack of refining capacity, lack of conservation, fragmented fuel requirements and complacency all play a part. We have also been on an orchestrated merry-go-round of sorts. Crude oil and fuel prices rise, public and private sectors begin to investigate alternatives, the price of crude drops, the alternatives become less cost effective and ultimately are abandoned. Then, the cycle begins again. Increased prices draw public ire, perhaps a Congressional investigation or two, prices drop (though never back to their previous rate) and the clamor fades.
( editors note 7-15-06 - and that’s exactly what happened!)
It is time that this cycle was stopped. As a country, we should recognize that depending on foreign sources for 60 % of our fuel requirements is a recipe for disaster.
We ask those who believe that this country must find an alternative energy source in order to ensure its’ political, economic and environmental future to add their names to this petition.
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