We've finally learned what the price of gas would need to reach to impact consumer usage, and it's $4/barrel. The goal must be energy independence where the US is not so dependent on one form of energy that we are vulnerable enough to be held hostage by it.
Here's The Golden Path:
Technology. As I've been saying for years, individuals will not change their daily lives. We need to adapt our technology to foster cars, buildings and appliances that take no extra effort, but save energy (like the energy-saver light bulbs). People won't stop driving, but they won't mind driving more energy-efficient vehicles.
Taxes. The market must change so that there is an incentive to be energy-efficient. The only way to do that is to keep gas over $4/gallon, the point that actually impacts the market. Simply taxing the US oil companies won't help, since they only control about 10% of the worldwide oil supply. Once we find a way to get gas prices under control, we need taxes that will keep gas above $4, with the revenues going to finance alternative energies elsewhere. Oil can no longer be a cheap energy solution.
Drilling. Before we can adopt new energy resources, we need a short-term solution to get out of our oil-dependent crisis. This means harvesting oil in North America, including ANWAR and the continental shelf. This is is full of hard choices and we need to think long-term. Democrats need to bend on this one. While we cannot go in and drill everything in sight, we need to get as much oil as we can now, to give us some breathing room until we can develop other energy resources.
There. The Most Important Blog In The Country has spoken.
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