Jimmy Carter Was Right - By David Knowles

[Quixote1818]

(If you go to the link, please DU the poll about congress overturing the ban on offshore drilling)



I realize that bashing Jimmy Carter is something of a favorite sport for many people in our country. But when it comes to energy conservation and the dismal situation we now find ourselves in regarding foreign oil dependence, and a withering auto industry, Carter's diagnosis and solutions would have largely spared us the pain we're all now feeling.

Last night, NPR's "Marketplace" ran a few excerpts of Carter's famous "Crisis of Confidence" speech (watch the entire speech here) , and it was striking to realize that if we'd simply followed the former president's 1979 energy blueprint, we'd not be in our current mess. Among the goals Carter laid out that night were:

--Never use more foreign oil than that which we ourselves produce.

--Start massive government investment to develop alternative sources of fuel.

--Mandate that utility companies cut their use of oil by 50%, and switch to alternative fuels.

--Give $10 billion to strengthen the nation's public transportation system.

--Drastically raise CAFE standards for US automakers.


(If you go to the link, please DU the poll about congress overturing the ban on offshore drilling)

More here: http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/07/16/jimmy-carter-was-right/

[MichiganVote]

1. Carter was alright. It was the economy and the GOP who slandered him.

[liberal N proud]

2. On the poll...

There are one hell of a lot stupid misinformed fuckers in this country 72%

[Quixote1818]

3. It's disheartening to see those numbers

What we should be doing is what Carter wanted to do 30 fucking years ago. Get the fuck away from Oil and become a world leader in alternative fuel. We could become self sufficient in 5 or 10 years if we set our minds on such. Everyone could be driving electric cars to and from work that are solar powered.