A Little History on the Dept of Energy....and what to about it!
Does anybody out there have any memory of the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ..... during the Carter Administration?
Bottom line . . we've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency ... the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember.
It was very simple
* ... and at the time everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted 8-04-1977 TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
AND NOW IT'S 2008, 31 YEARS LATER ... AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS NECESSARY DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR
* THEY HAVE 160,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES
* AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE!
THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY 'WHAT WAS I THINKING?'
* Ah yes, good ole bureaucracy.
We need more responsive government, not finger pointing at private industry. Please support the Army by contacting our representatives in Congress with the following message via email or telephone::
Georgia - Senator Chambliss
Ph: 202-224-352
Email Link
Senator Isakson
Ph: 202-224-3643:
Email link
I am concerned about the high percentage of our oil that comes from foreign countries. Even in December, as the economy was contracting, we imported nearly 70 percent of the oil we used and paid over $19 billion for it.
I am very interested in the key aspects of the American Renewal and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) that include the promotion of alternative energy - wind, solar and the building out of a 21st century electrical transmission grid.
A Department of Energy study showed that developing our capacity to produce wind energy would not only replace 20 percent of the electricity we now produce using coal-burning plants, but would add 138,000 jobs in the first year and more than 3.4 million over a ten-year span.
But we can, and need to, do more. What's missing is the other part of the Pickens Plan - natural gas used as a vehicle fuel.
If we switch just 350,000 of the 6.5 million heavy trucks running on the nation's Interstate Highways to domestic natural gas from imported diesel, we could cut our oil imports by over five percent. In December alone that would have kept nearly $1 billion from being shipped off shore. But this legislation needs to go further to achieve that goal and to get more vehicles on the road that use clean and domestic natural gas.
I hope you will join me in supporting some of the components of the Pickens Plan and urge you to add others as H.R. 1 moves toward final passage.
CC: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Bottom line . . we've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency ... the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember.
It was very simple
* ... and at the time everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted 8-04-1977 TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
AND NOW IT'S 2008, 31 YEARS LATER ... AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS NECESSARY DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR
* THEY HAVE 160,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES
* AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE!
THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY 'WHAT WAS I THINKING?'
* Ah yes, good ole bureaucracy.
We need more responsive government, not finger pointing at private industry. Please support the Army by contacting our representatives in Congress with the following message via email or telephone::
Georgia - Senator Chambliss
Ph: 202-224-352
Email Link
Senator Isakson
Ph: 202-224-3643:
Email link
I am concerned about the high percentage of our oil that comes from foreign countries. Even in December, as the economy was contracting, we imported nearly 70 percent of the oil we used and paid over $19 billion for it.
I am very interested in the key aspects of the American Renewal and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) that include the promotion of alternative energy - wind, solar and the building out of a 21st century electrical transmission grid.
A Department of Energy study showed that developing our capacity to produce wind energy would not only replace 20 percent of the electricity we now produce using coal-burning plants, but would add 138,000 jobs in the first year and more than 3.4 million over a ten-year span.
But we can, and need to, do more. What's missing is the other part of the Pickens Plan - natural gas used as a vehicle fuel.
If we switch just 350,000 of the 6.5 million heavy trucks running on the nation's Interstate Highways to domestic natural gas from imported diesel, we could cut our oil imports by over five percent. In December alone that would have kept nearly $1 billion from being shipped off shore. But this legislation needs to go further to achieve that goal and to get more vehicles on the road that use clean and domestic natural gas.
I hope you will join me in supporting some of the components of the Pickens Plan and urge you to add others as H.R. 1 moves toward final passage.
CC: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Views: 0
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Michael Chisman on -
Great information but what to do until we are converted? That where the part time challenge is. As a new member, I see the interest in alternative fuel and ecology, which is great. I represent a company that is also "global green" in all their thinking and I'm representing there group of products. What can I do to encourage people to take a look at what we are doing in the race to save on fuel, clean up emissions and protect our resources? I'll leave you with my web site and maybe you can offer some suggestions. I certainly would appreciate it. There are many hurdles to clear and not easy as I'm sure you are aware. Thank you for you kind consideration.
Michael Chisman
www.bitroniz.biz -
-
Permalink Reply by Kay Shoemaker on -
I know when Carter was president he installed solar panels on the White House. When Reagan moved in he took them down and sold them to a university, which successfully used them up until a few years ago. Everything changed because of Reagan, and we are now paying the price.
-
-
Permalink Reply by Bob Nagengast on -
ummm- a bit off point. We could debate why Clinton did not ire-stall them or when Obama will, but that's not the purpose of the conversation. And is Carter using solar in his Habitat for Humanity Program?
What are we doing going forward, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party, independent.....
The economy is beginning to show signs of recovery and guess what?....so are gas prices. $19 Billion flowed out of our country this month...literally flowed...in oil imports. Cutting our independence on foreign oil is a NON-partisan issue. -
-
Permalink Reply by Kay Shoemaker on
-
Bob, I only brought it up because the question asked was related to Carter's administration. That happens to be something I know about that happened. I believe he had a plan in mind, but it all went out the window with Reagan. Everything became about being more friendly to corporations, giving them more power, deregulating everything. That's all I'm saying. Both parties are guilty of cowtowing to big energy companies, or corporations in general, and that is the problem, because they fund campaigns for both parties. And the energy companies don't want to move in this direction. They want things to stay as they are, because once it changes, they won't be making as much money. So, for some of them, it is about greed, and I am sick of the greed that permeates our society. They (politicians) feel the need to cave in to whomever has the bucks, and that is certainly not the people, it's the CEOs and rich coporate types. (And yes, I do realize that many of those rich corporate types are working on this issue to change the future. kudos to them! It's about time. I'm just frustrated that it's taken so long to get to this point.) And there are so many people out there who simply do not believe it can be done. They think we will always need oil and coal and such. But I don't believe that, not for a second. So I apologize if I got off-point, and I apologize for fingerpointing, but in the context of the question, I thought it was appropriate. I was just adding something I knew about.
In my opinion, the best way to move forward is for government to subsidize people solarizing their homes, or having wind machines if that works better in their area, and sell the excess back to the power companies. We need to start utilizing passive solar building techniques in ALL buildings going forward. There are so many ways to build a house where you don't need to rely on any kind of internal heating or cooling system, because the internal temperature is stable no matter what the temperature is outside. Many of them consist of using recycled materials. Many of these techniques can also make a house or building completely fireproof or rainproof without the use of toxic chemicals. It can also make it soundproof. In addition, there is the prospect of rooftop gardens in cities where a lot of people live. That could also help people grow organic foods locally. I know we would still have to import food, but it is a great way to add locally gown foods, and to lessen the amount of fuel it takes to import/export foods.
If the government would create a program that subsidized people solarizing homes (or having wind machines or some such other way to create power), the price of the equipment would come down, and the money saved would pay for the program in a very short period of time I believe. It's clean, and it could be implemented much faster than building more plants, plants that use dirty technology. It would create a LOT of jobs for people and many small businesses. I have been praying for something like this for a very, very long time. I'm so happy the possibilty is now here, but I am afraid this part of the plan might not get implemented, because the bigwigs in energy would be against it. -
© 2013 Created by PickensPlan.
Powered by
Badges | Community Guidelines | Report an Issue | Terms of Service
