Oil Woes Fail to Stir Leadership June 24, 2008 Why is Rep. Randy Forbes all alone out there?
Rep. Forbes is an earnest Republican congressman from Virginia who has distinguished himself by calling for a "Manhattan Project" to fully end the U.S.'s dependence on foreign energy within 20 years. The surprise here lies not in Rep. Forbes's proposal, though it is an interesting call for mandated higher auto fuel efficiency and expanded use of biofuels and nuclear and solar power, overseen by a new national science commission and fueled by big cash prizes dangled before scientists to conjure up solutions. The surprising thing is that there aren't 100 Randy Forbes out there, issuing similar calls to arms to seize this moment and finally cure the country's oil addiction. As it happens, Rep. Forbes says he went roaming the Capitol looking for partners -- and found no takers. "We scoured the halls of Congress because we wanted to join up with somebody else who's thought about these issues and who's come up with some ideas, and we kept coming up empty," he says. What he proposes, in short, is that government lead by providing inspiration and incentive. A bill he has introduced lists seven areas where America needs to do more -- gas mileage, energy efficiency, solar power, biofuels, clean coal, nuclear-waste storage and nuclear fusion -- and proposes that government form a national science commission and offer cash incentives to prod academics and private scientists to solve the problems blocking progress in each area. It may not be the perfect answer, but its author hopes it's at least an inspirational start. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:262568 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
