Energy Petition - Why Did I Build this Site?
My name is John Griffith, you can find out more about me here, but I am not an alternative fuel / alternative energy expert. I am not a scientist. I am not in the alternative energy business. I am not affiliated with any energy related organizations. This website is not part of any particular political group, PAC or advocacy group. Truth be known, I know very little about the merits of various alternative fuel sources. Not exactly stunning qualifications to develop a website that I hope will spur action, awareness and dialog about alternative fuels.
What are my qualifications? I am a consumer of fuels, I am a citizen of The United States and I am deeply concerned that our government is failing to act in the best interest of its’ citizens. Not having a concerted, focused effort in place to solve our dependence on nonrenewable, foreign controlled fuels is placing our country at risk..
If its true that the development of alternative energy has been stymied by big oil and big automobile companies and by the relationships those companies have with our elected officials- it is time for it to stop. This is no longer about corporate profit and loss, it’s about the future of our country.
I’m not a big conspiracy fan and am not at all convinced that a real plan for alternative energy has been impeded by big oil and automotive companies. If this has been true in the past, there is clearly evidence that these big companies are embracing the need for alternative fuels, including this recent news from Ford Motor Company.
There are a few things about alternative energy and national energy policy that I do know:
- The 2005 Energy Bill was the first significant energy legislation in this country since 1978. Does it make sense that a country that depends on foreign oil for 60% of its’ needs hasn’t passed new energy legislation in 27 years?
- The 2005 Energy Bill does not have provisions to create a governmental program, similar in scope to the Manhattan Project, to solve our energy problem. The purpose of this petition is to call for exactly that type of program. The 2005 Energy Bill consists mostly of tax credits and legal protections for traditional energy companies.
- Even if every car in the U.S. was a hybrid vehicle by 2025, we would still import just as much oil, due to the increase in the number of vehicles over that time period. By the way, our energy petition calls for action NOW and a viable, affordable, deliverable alternative fuel by 2010.
- Brazil's reliance on oil imports has plummeted from 85 percent of its energy consumption in 1978 to 10 percent in 2002, through the use of mix-fuel vehicles. These vehicles run on a mix of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. This fuel sells for half the price of gasoline. This alcohol is produced from sugar cane and other renewable sources.
- Part of the 2005 Energy Bill is the $1.7 billion “Freedom Car’ initiative, promising a viable hydrogen powered car within a couple of decades. Unfortunately, President Nixon promised the same thing with his ‘Project Independence’ - 30 years ago. Matter of fact, Nixon called for “a program to marshal both government and private research with the goal of producing an unconventionally powered virtually pollution free automobile within five years." Calling for something obviously doesn’t equate to doing it. Imagine if we had.
- The Governors Ethanol Coalition, made up of 30 U.S. governors, calls for 5% of transportation fuel to come from ethanol by 2010. 5%? Why not the 85% Brazil has achieved? Why do we believe we can continue to take half measures? Setting minimum objectives (with no enforcement) and viewing solutions as being decades away is a formula for failure on a phenomenal scale.
I didn’t know any of this a week ago.
The thought that we needed to have a ‘Manhattan Project for Alternative Fuels’ has been floating around in my head for a long time, but had never progressed beyond that. I had seen a few stories about fuel cells and thought they sounded like a great concept. That was the extent of my knowledge.
I decided that it was important enough to stop thinking about it and actually do something.
I made a search on the Internet for ‘energy petition’ and to my surprise found nothing.
I also found that the domain www.energypetion.com was available. I purchased the domain and began to do some research.
During the time I was researching and creating the site, Hurricane Rita threatened the Houston/Galveston area. After the hit we had just taken with Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita may have pushed gasoline to $4.00 or $5.00 a gallon. Even with the minimal damage caused by Rita, 20% of our refining capacity will be shut down for weeks.
Home heating oil is already 35% higher then it was a year ago and it hasn’t started to get cold yet.
But isn’t just about prices. What do you think will happen if China, India or Japan is the country that solves this problem?
What would a real alternative fuel mean geopolitically?
How many nations do we support because of oil?
What would a clean, reliable, renewable form of energy mean to the poor of the world? To developing countries?
Can a petition make any difference? Can one person make a difference? Can we actually make a ‘Manhattan Project for Alternative Fuel’ a reality? I don’t know, but I think we have to try.
This website will be completed by October 1, 2005. At that time I will be sending out Press Releases about the site and asking some high profile websites to link to this site. If we can gather 100,000 signatures, perhaps we can begin to impact our elected officials thinking, if we can gather 250,000 signatures maybe we can make an impact on the dialog of upcoming elections or on media coverage of energy policy. What impact would a million signatures have?
I don’t know what your reasons may be for signing this petition; a cleaner environment, lower prices, less foreign dependence, national security, economic competitiveness or the future of your kids.
No matter what your reason, I urge you to sign this petition, tell others about it, add links to it from your website if you have one, e-mail the address to people you know - whatever you can do to spread the word.
Again, this site isn’t funded by anyone, there is no budget to promote it, it promotes no particular form of alternative energy, endorses no political ideology and is not connected to any kind of organization, coalition or industry group. We invite those with similar interests to link to this site, such links do not constitute endorsements. My hope is that this site will represent an independent voice with one simple request -
‘Gather the best minds that America has to offer and develop a viable, affordable, deliverable alternative fuel by 2010’
Thank You
John Griffith
jgriffith@energypetition.com
September 24th, 2005
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