I’ve been hesitant to build up a lot of hope, but I’m starting to think that the future of America’s energy policies may wind up being the turnkey issue that drives a lot of us off the fence who have been either undecided or hovering around third party candidates out of frustration with our major party choices. CBS News is reporting on a new proposal from Sen. John McCain which is being dubbed “The Lexington Project” which may provide a ray of hope for those dismayed by Congressional inaction on an increasingly urgent topic.
Senator John McCain unveiled the name of his energy project in Las Vegas today as he wrapped up the western swing of his two week energy tour. Deemed the Lexington Project, McCain’s plan states the U.S. will be independent of foreign energy sources by the year 2025.
“For the town where Americans asserted their independence once before,” McCain explained of the plan’s namesake in Virginia. “Let it begin today with this commitment: In a world of hostile and unstable suppliers of oil, this nation will achieve strategic independence by 2025.”
Anyone who is looking for a “silver bullet” to address our energy problems with one, single solution is doing nothing more than whistling their way past the graveyard. It’s going to require a patchwork of solutions in different areas where each makes sense. There are some serious possibilities laid out in this initiative which Congress would do well to consider. From the McCain team:
The Lexington Project Initiative Includes:
· Expanding Domestic Oil And Natural Gas Exploration And Production.
· Taking Action Now To Break Our Dependency On Foreign Oil By Reforming Our Transportation Sector.
· Investing In Clean, Alternative Sources Of Energy.
· Protecting Our Environment By Addressing Climate Change.
· Promoting Energy Efficiency.
· Addressing Speculative Pricing Of Oil.
It’s highly disappointing when Congress talks endlessly about issues which they feel will deliver political advantage and then wind up doing nothing. One great example is immigration. (Just to pick one of many, of course.) Stop talking about building a 100 foot high electric fence across the Mexican border with a moat and sharks and dinosaurs. You’ve bored us to death. If you were serious about it you would be moving to stiffen penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens and putting the funding and resources in place to pursue those prosecutions. If you lack the political will to do that, please stop wasting our time.
Congress has done much of the same on the energy issue. We have two Senators running for president right now. Don’t tell me what you’re going to do after we elect you. You’re in a position to do something right now. If either of them can get Congress together to wrestle something like the Lexington Project to the ground, then you will have impressed me.
Get to work, gentlemen. This is coming down to crunch time and we need a lot more than talk. This Lexington Project proposal is a good start. Let’s see if Congress can’t actually get past the partisan bickering and do something about it.