by Patrick California

Created on: October 02, 2007

This is not a supply or consumption problem. This is a problem we created by allowing our governmental agencies to over-regulate our energy market. Rationing energy is just another layer of regulation. Any energy shortage can be resolved in just a few years with some simple steps. In the following, I will show you how our free market economy has already begun to resolve this issue. Let's start by defining the proposed solution:

Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services: it restricts how much people are allowed to buy or consume. Rationing, for whatever reason, controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time. It is a short term fix to a supply problem, not a long term solution. Think about it... Even if rationing was able to reduce consumption, our nation will continue to grow... as will other nations like China... and the energy demand will invariably increase. If you truly believe we face an energy crisis, the only option is to find a way to produce more energy in a cleaner way. We need energy. That will never change. So let's talk about realistic solutions for our energy needs.

GET MORE OIL: There is obviously a finite amount of oil available. Right now, we have through regulation and legislation avoided tapping our own oil resources in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. Are we to believe that foreign dictatorships are better stewards of the environment than we might be when drilling for oil? We support their unregulated harvesting; often financing whole evil empires in the process, as the globe is impacted far worse than if we had done our own drilling on our own soil. This is obviously another short term solution, not a permanent fix.

NUCLEAR POWER: We've all seen scary movies portraying nuclear waste destroying the planet, but the truth is, we now have the technology to provide clean energy with a much lower environmental impact than fossil fuels. The same activists who demand change on behalf of our planet deny the simplest, most cost effective solution simply through paranoia with no factual basis whatsoever.

HYDROELECTRIC POWER: Did you know many states don't use fossil fuels at all? In fact, much of our power comes from nature, with virtually no dangerous byproduct. Talk about reducing your carbon footprint! This has been around since before the first "gas crisis", when our nation stepped up and found a realistic solution to the

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