Nobody said it would be easy. Whether your round trip is 20 miles (like mine), or 5 miles, it is always tougher and more dangerous than ploping in your car and going about your business the way you've always done. A couple of weeks ago, I rode with a guy who does 40 plus miles on his bike 7 days a week, YEAR ROUND.
The point is, we don't have to keep taking it. If you can't (or won't) bike, then CARPOOL for goodness sakes. DO SOMETHING!!! I've never seen or heard so many whiny whimps who would put so much effort into creating excuses why they should be exempt from making ANY personal sacrifice or put forth ANY personal effort, in my life.
When you realize that every tankful of gas you buy is helping to finance efforts to kill our troops, and eventually US, you should be willing to do any and EVERYTHING within your power as an American (receiving the benefits and protections thereof), and as a human being, to deny those funds to those countries, and subsequently, terrorist organizations who mean us harm. They aren't just laughing at President Bush. They are laughing at us. Have you so soon forgotten the cheering in the streets from the citizens of these countries on 9/11?
Yes drill, use solar, wind, geothermal. All of the above. But all of those things take time. We need something NOW!!! We can conserve NOW. Everybody can do SOMETHING. That is the point.
We can point fingers and blame Clinton, Bush, big oil, OPEC, lobbists, politicians who owe favors, environmentalists blocking domestic drilling, speculators, etc. until the cows come home, but what good will that do right now?
But, if a sizable percentage of us will actually be willing to experience some slight disruption in our routines, we can make a difference TODAY.
Some will refuse to sacrifice their GIANT HUMMER or their bi-yearly jaunt to Rio. Those people will be hard to convince. For the rest of us financial mortals, we can alter our lifestyles and make a HUGE difference.
Perhaps rationing would get the attention of the upper class, or a punitive tax on gas guzzlers. A federal bond to place solar panels on every roof in the country and a mandatory zero emmissions vehicle mandate for auto manufactors, are some ideas. All will take time. We can conserve now. If we did it with a passion, we could conserve our way to energy independence by next week.
Whether you personally agree or not, this IS a matter of national security and patriotism. If you're not willing to do ANYTHING