For some time now we have been asking the question: why? Why can’t the US cast off the shackles of energy dependence? For over 30 years, politicians, business leaders and community activists have spoken of the ills of dependence on foreign oil, all the while that dependence has only increased. Have we learned nothing from the energy crises of the 1970s? Apparently not. Even in the wake of constant threats from Islamic radicals, Venezuelan tyrants, Russian demagogues and Nigerian turmoil, we continue to turn a blind eye from the inexorable reality of our very real vulnerability.

Only yesterday, President Bush spoke of the dangers of foreign oil and the reality of foreign turmoil and the dangerous stranglehold foreign dictators have over the US economy. Sadly we have heard such language before. We heard it from Clinton, we heard it from Bush’s father, Reagan and Carter and to date, nothing has been done to reduce energy dependence by even the slightest. In fact, this government has done everything to encourage our subservience to absolute monarchs, tyrants and radical mullahs. During the president’s speech, he spoke of an energy breakthrough, making use of revolutionary new technologies, which quite frankly aren’t all that new. In fact, much of what the president promised could have been realized 40 years ago, if not earlier. Bush has been “promoting” renewable energy since he came to office. In his speeches there is tacit recognition of a looming energy crisis. Yet the president’s words have not been met with deeds. As Forbes magazine, hardly a leftist rag, pointed out:

Two weeks ago, 32 workers, including eight researchers, were laid off at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. The lab helps develop the very renewable energy technologies the president is promoting.

Then, over the weekend, just before Bush's planned visit to the lab on Tuesday, the government restored the jobs.

This further demonstrates the dishwatery support the president and his administration have given to alternative energy. Meantime, the government pours unjustifiable billions into New Orleans or loses an equally astonishing sum on “reconstruction” in Iraq. If this president or any previous president was truly interested in taking action, it would have been done long ago, but as we have seen this administration lacks any semblance of forward thinking whatsoever, which is regrettable, given the president’s supposed commitment to national security.

The fact of the matter is, there are a plethora of readily available alternatives to foreign oil dependence, including bio-fuels, hydrogen and fuel cell powered technologies, something NASA has used to power spacecraft since the 1960s. There are synthetic liquid fuels, used on a large scale as early as the 1930s and of course hybrid technology, which radically improves fuel efficiency, yet America continues to languish in the backwater of energy dependence. While most of the western world pursues a similar course, only to fall victim to tyrants like Vladimir Putin, when they seek to use oil as a weapon.

Not all nations are following the lead (or lack there of) of the US, Brazil has developed an extensive alternative energy infrastructure relying on the domestic production of ethanol, derived from sugar cane. In fact over ¾ of all cars sold in Brazil are capable of running on ethanol or gasoline and due to the increased cost of petroleum, ethanol is the preferred fuel of most Brazilian consumers. Ethanol is widely available in this country of over 180 million people. Brazil’s ethanol business has become such a boon for the country’s economy, that Brazil now exports ethanol to the developed world, significantly improving its balance of trade. Supplementing the nation’s energy needs has not inhibited the nation’s sugar industry by any means as the vast majority of cane continues to be refined into sugar.

Is ethanol the answer for America’s energy needs? Quite possibly, the costs of producing ethanol-powered engines is miniscule, compared to hybrid, fuel cell or hydrogen vehicles. The US, as one of the world’s largest corn producers, could also produce a sizable share (if not all) of its ethanol needs in any given year. A genuine support for alternative energy research and development would give American industry and consumers the impetus for change. Incentives should be provided for industries to develop alternatives and consumers should be equally rewarding for embracing such alternatives. Ethanol is only one option, through diversification using ethanol and other energy alternatives, the US could completely eliminate its dependence on the Hugo Chavezs of the world. Only time will tell if the president’s commitment is genuine this time around.
http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/02/21/ap2540205.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4715332.stm