Americans are very concerned about high oil prices and the prices they are paying for gasoline at the pump. In some areas gasoline is well over $4 a gallon and oil currently trades for over $100 a barrel.

One of the battle-cries of the 2008 election was the Republican faithful chanting, “drill baby drill” at it’s campaign rallies. One of the main issues in the 2012 presidential campaign could be the proposed Keystone pipeline which is a pipeline that would transport oil from Hardisty, Alberta Canada to America. It will not be a surprise if “drill baby drill” rallying calls are once used again in 2012. Proponents of the pipeline say that it will help to decrease America’s dependence on foreign oil. Detractors site environmental issues and say that the pipeline will have little if any impact on reducing oil prices and reducing America’s dependency on foreign oil.

You hear our politicians always talking about breaking free of our dependency on foreign oil. We propose that our addiction to oil has nothing to do with the American public being addicted to oil and everything to do with Big Oil companies being addicted to oil profits and perpetuating the oil based economy with the politicians being addicted to catering to the oil companies who make large campaign contributions.

Going back to “drill baby drill”, we have technologies now available that can efficiently and cost effectively make oil obsolete as a fuel source just as when the microprocessor was introduced to the market, the personal computer made the typewriter obsolete. However, when the typewriter technology was replaced by the computer, you did not see a whole lot of people chanting “typewriter baby typewriter”. This is because they were not upset when the typewriter was going out and the computer was coming in. The computer had a natural product roll-out and consumers embraced the advanced technology.

Now, we are seeing a variety of new energy technologies that make oil the typewriter of this time. What we are seeing is our political leaders perpetuating the oil based economy and stalling advancement of our society and planet. If the battling cry of a campaign rally is “drill baby drill” and the campaign is motivating its followers to promote and champion something that is not good for them, then that campaign is not good for America.

Whether you believe that global warming is because of the use of fossil fuels or because of changes in earth cycles, it is irrelevant to this energy debate. While we are having record heat in the summers and mild winters, there is evidence that suggests that the heating Earth is caused by earth cycles and not by fossil fuel use. Either way, America for America is concerned as to why we continue to use fossil fuels when there are far cheaper, cleaner and efficient energy sources available.

What we are witnessing is a U.S. government that is slow to introduce, adapt and integrate new energy technologies as solutions to our energy needs. At the same time, we are seeing people holding onto inferior technologies, because they are not being informed on what new technologies are available to them. Instead of rallying the country behind a mission as John Kennedy did with saying that “we will put a man on the moon within a decade“, many of our current political leaders are championing “drill baby drill”. We have others striving for a industry standard of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Both are unacceptable and less than what is best for America.

Further, taking a proactive and positive stance on this issue does not make someone a liberal or conservative. If someone insisted upon using typewriters in favor of using a computer, did that make that person a conservative? Or did the masses of people who left the typewriter in favor the computer make all of them liberals? No. This is not about being liberal or conservative, this is about embracing new energies that will make a better America for all of us.

Moving forward, the quicker that America and the world gets off of oil, the quicker we move into a new age. America for America will discuss these energy sources in future articles. We just have to get a new ribbon for our typewriter before we do.

Stay tuned in and remain optimistic. Good times are coming soon.


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