When will the people of the US demand that their government solve the energy shortage?

Question

There was a time when American had the best and brightest people, and government had a real partnership with business to solve military and economic problems.

In order to save our future we need to act now.

1. We have not built a new nuclear power plant in decades.

2. No refineries have been built since 1976.

3. Our natural resources sit idle, while our enemies lease federal lands and drill for our oil.

4. public transportation is severely underfunded. what happened to Amtrack?

5. Our interstate system is near collapse.

These are some basic ideas, which require action not debate. Maybe by spending a few billion on practical solutions we will become energy independent.

Answer 1

The US government doesn't solve problems.  It just throws money at them and creates a bureaucracy to handle the throwing.  Obama's theory that if we had allocated half the money spent on the Iraq war to alternative energy there wouldn't be an energy crisis is false.  There would merely be huge numbers of people in the career of "developing alternative energy" but these developments would not materialize because that would end the flow of research funds.  The same is true in medicine.  Maybe the Japanese will develop a solution.

You watch: if new nuclear plants and refineries are built with any substantial level of government funding, expect huge cost overruns, corruption and design/structural problems.  We are just too greedy when it comes to sucking on the federal teat.

Answer 2

Some people are working on it:

http://www.americansolutions.com

Answer 3

We will solve it when the rest of the world dose as well. Wake up it is no just an US problemm it is a world wide proble all of the world should come together to solve this.

Answer 4

Some want the government to take over are life's, others wish the government was not as big as it has gotten, and corrupt.

Nuclear power plants deform people.

It takes money for all the ideas you have listen, do you want to pay more taxes? Give those corrupt government officials your hard earned money? Take your next pay check to city hall and hand it over......

Ever priced solar panels, ever bought a unit? Why? Stop driving that second vehicle? Start walking if that is you live in a place you can walk from point a to point b. Stop taking vacations,stay at home.....

This stuff all starts at home.....again why rely on the government?

Answer 5

Good idea.  Don't forget that the government is still giving huge tax breaks to oil companies who don't need it, and who are making record profits at our expense.

Until 1995 (I think) all the oil extracted from Alaska had to be sold in the US.  Maybe we should reinstate that law.

Robert: So investment in alternative energy research won't work because it will "stop the flow of research funds"???  Don't forget the government is by the people and for the people.

Profit motive is what got us into this mess.  If government "got out of the way" we would all be begging for scraps outside of the palaces of the owners of Standard Oil and Walmart.

Answer 6

Most of it is supply and demand. Especially gas...if you've noticed the Saudi's increased oil production by 2%.

They did this because they are afraid that with higher gas prices people will start to not drive as much and use alternative transportation...which of course is bad for them, so they raise production to drop prices only a little.

Once gas gets to about 5 or 6 dollars (which it will probably by sept.) the democrats will be quiet maybe and let us drill for more oil locally which will ease the rising prices.

Necessity is the mother of invention so we'll see.

Oh and soo..Why don't we have monorails???

like in Disneyworld, that is to me, the solution to the gas crisis, automobile accidents, pollution and it runs above ground so it doesn't take up much space...

amtrack needs to come back.

Answer 7

It's not that we haven't been demanding it.

Our gov't is unresponsive.

Answer 8

d**n republicans have been in power too long.  Time to change the players in Washington.

Answer 9

It won't happen until the oil companies have wrung every penny they can out of oil. No coincidence that the Bush family have made their fortune through oil.

Answer 10

Kk just come up with that few billion and I'll go tell the President myself.

Answer 11

Americans need to decide which is more important, decreasing the relatively small environmental footprint we leave, or becoming energy independant. there is a conflict of interest here and nothing will be done until we prioritize/compromise on the issue. problem is, you have a lot of influential people (lots of celebrities) who are more concerned with the principle behind things and less with the practical solutions to problems and they paint a picture in peoples' minds of this ideal world that we can all work to create so we complain about emissions and pollution and drilling for oil where cute harmless animals live, but then get angry when gas prices go through the roof. we have to pick which is most important to us as a society before anything will get done.

Answer 12

I don't want our government to try and solve anything! They will just make it worse. I want the government to allow US to solve this problem

Answer 13

gurdd what, its our congress that created these problems.  How about the government ust gets out of the way and lets business solve the problems using good old fashioned profit motive.

Answer 14

There is no "energy shortage".  Americans are wasting too much energy.  We use more energy per person than any other nation, including industrialized ones.  If everyone stopped wasting, the "shortage" would solve itself.