Energy Policy Needs To Be Made Now

I was standing in the gas line earlier this summer thanking God for being an American , and then it dawned on me . Who should I thank for the $4.00 gas . Should it be the politicians , the gas merchants , the Saudis , or just my desire to drive in my personal car ? I came up with the idea that it was all of the above . Therefore I made a pledge to consume less , and do something constructive .So I conceededand instead wrote another blog. I consulted with one of my favorite perodicals , The Wall Street Journal found the info below. The polling confirmed what I already knew , the politicians need to get it right .The people have taken the lead as always. The public has determined trough staycations, buisnesses have determined to reduce hours and cut payrolls to force the market to adjust the oil prices.Now what can the politicians do ? As a good friend of mine said , "Get Pelosi back in the Hill and get them to vote for us ". This was from a gentleman that is not partisian ,but a guy who just like me wants to fill up his car without getting a loan.
I agree with one of my friends whose motto is “explore more, conserve wisely and pursue alternatives” . We have to do all these things now ,it is more than conservation it is a matter of national security .


By STEPHEN POWER
August 21, 2008; Page A9 Wall Street Journal
Want Everything on Energy
WASHINGTON -- Voters are crying out for more solar and wind energy -- but that doesn't mean they are opposed to drilling for more oil at the same time, according to a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll.
The poll's findings suggest any political advantage Democrats or Republicans hope to get from the national debate over energy policy will depend on how skillfully they package their positions. Democrats have opposed expanded offshore drilling and stressed alternatives to oil. Republicans have called for expanding oil exploration to areas currently off limits. Leaders in both parties have begun scrambling for ground somewhere in the middle, where a big chunk of voters appear to stand.
According to the Journal-NBC poll, 72% of the respondents said developing alternative energy sources could "accomplish a great deal."
When asked whether expanding areas for drilling for oil off coastal states was a step in the right direction, 63% said it was, with 44% saying it would accomplish "a great deal." Only 27% said that allowing more drilling off coastal states was a step in "the wrong direction."

Asked about building more nuclear plants, 53% said it was a step in the right direction. Thirty-one percent said it was a step "in the wrong direction."
"Voters are telling us they want everything," said Neil Newhouse, a Republican who conducts the poll with Democrat Peter D. Hart. Mr. Hart said the results indicate that the current energy debate between Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, "is not the fight that the American public cares about."

The poll found greater levels of skepticism among voters about releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve -- an idea advocated by Sen. Obama and many congressional Democrats -- and suspending the federal gas tax, an idea championed by Sen. McCain. Less than half of those polled thought those ideas were a step in the right direction.


After weeks of criticizing expanded drilling, Sen. Obama has said he could support an expansion of offshore drilling, as long as it is part of a "genuine bipartisan compromise" that includes other measures to reduce the country's oil dependence.

Similarly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) announced last week that her party is drafting legislation that "will consider opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling, with appropriate safeguards, and without taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil."

Many Republicans have dismissed that statement, saying they suspect the Democrats' proposal will contain other provisions unacceptable to their side. Sen. McCain has also continued to attack Sen. Obama on the issue, visiting an offshore oil rig this week to highlight his support for more offshore drilling

"Congressional Democrats are still kind of lagging" public opinion on drilling, Mr. Newhouse said. "They've been extraordinarily slow to pick up on this [issue], and some of their [candidates] may end up paying the price."

Congress is preparing to return to Washington in later this month to debate whether to pass new legislation that attempts to respond to high oil prices by funding alternative-energy sources and increasing access to domestic petroleum. Focal points in the debate are whether to lift the 27-year-old drilling moratorium that largely covers the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and whether to expand tax credits and other subsidies for alternative energy technology such as wind and solar power.