UPDATE!!!!

"Oil Storm Documentary" commentary.

It was a documentary-style program as if it were being told in past-tense, but it started Memorial Day, 2006, which, at the time of this writing, hadn't arrived yet.

America is consuming oil at am alarming rate and while that program was fictitious, it wasn't completely untrue, either. It is fully possible that such events could happen.

So, viewers were led to believe that if such events were to actually happen, yes, it would severely impact our nation, but over a time, and the program gave it a little over a year, America could recover.

At the time of this writing, we are paying about $2 per gallon for gasoline. And prices for goods are still pretty affordable given that it costs more to bring those goods to the people. However, at the end of that program, after America had “recovered”, the prices they were listing for a gallon of gasoline were still well over $4 a gallon. That means that prices for other goods would likely be higher as well, meaning higher prices for everything in general. That don't seem much like a 'recovery' to me.

It appears to me that the program was backed (paid for) by oil producers as a scare tactic against American consumers to help justify drilling in the wildlife reserves and other places for more domestically available oil to help assure that that type of a scenario would not happen. And, if it did happen, that we could “recover” in a short time or if we had other sources of oil, that it may not happen at all. Drilling in some of those places wasn not directly mentioned in the program, but after viewing that program, it is going to be on the minds of the people that they don't want to be placed in that situation, so;

“Yeah, you can go drill there if you want to!”

Wake up America! The solution is not to find more oil to burn! One solution is to find other sources of energy to reduce our dependence on oil. Not just our dependence on foreign oil, either. Our dependence on oil in general.

It is a shame that oil and government are tied so close together. One reason is that governments, run by men who are in the oil business, will send armies to foreign lands (tax paid, money from the taxes of working people, etc.) to protect their personal interests in the oil markets.

Wake up America! The solution is not to fight in foreign countries to secure more oil to burn! Another solution is to find other sources of energy to reduce our dependence on oil. Not just our dependence on foreign oil, either. Our dependence on oil in general.

The program did not even mention the exploration into new, renewable energy sources. Wind, solar and hydro (rivers, tidal, and other) sources are clean, reliable, and won't cause us to have to go fight on foreign lands to secure oil.

When Bill Clinton was president, (I am not Democrat or Republican so this is not a partisan political thing to me) there was a program called the “Million Solar Roofs Initiative”. At the time, there was very little publicity about that program. It is still in existence, but the following excerpt was taken directly from the DOE's website, www.millionsolarroofs.org.

“The Million Solar Roofs Initiative was launched in 1997. As the name suggests, the initiative seeks to install solar energy systems on one million homes by 2010. With more than 350,000 systems installed, Million Solar Roofs is succeeding beyond anyone's wildest dreams.”

Or is it? We are half way through 2005, and the program only has roughly over 350,000 systems installed. Do you know anyone who has one installed that the Million Solar Roofs Initiative assisted with? I didn't think so.

At the rate it is going, there won't be a Million Solar Roofs completed until 2019. Also, it mentions that it was designed for homes.

“As the name suggests, the initiative seeks to install solar energy systems on one million homes by 2010.”

Go to their website, and it is boasted they have hundreds of thousands of installations, but they don't mention homes. Why not?

They have been doing many of those installations on Government buildings. How many Government buildings have you seen that are solar powered? Me, either. . .

And how many government vehicles have you seen that are fuel-efficient models instead of SUVs and such? Hmmm. .. me either. . .

It appears that in order to get America to not be so dependent on oil, foreign or domestic, that we, as a country of citizens, not government, must take it upon ourselves to reduce our own dependence on oil.

The average daily mileage for Americans is about 25 miles. Most electric vehicles, either converted, or purpose-built, are very capable of this and many exceed this by a considerable margin. For those who live in small towns, it is likely less for them. Taking into account that these people will drive a number of miles to a larger commercial center on a regular basis, with a bit of adjustment, those trips could likely be reduced by better planning, and then the electric vehicle would provide for most of the local transportation needs of even those people in the smaller towns.

For other energy needs such as heat, hot water and electricity, there is solar, wind, and in some cases small hydro power available to the people. And, it is possible to build some or most of all your own equipment.

How dependent are you on oil? What can you change in your daily life to reduce your dependence on oil?

The opinions presented here are my own, and not necessarily connected with any other affiliation.

Doug Simpson
I Choose Green
ichoosegreen.com