Setting Aside Political Differences for Common Goals
By Frank Salvato (08/10/07)
American politics has become so caustic that many engaged in the process have become blind to the fact that there are many common goals that exist between the two factions that currently hold good government hostage. Clear thinking Americans - those not slavishly beholden to opinion polls and special interest groups - understand that the overwhelming majority of us have more in common than not. To this point it will be the wise politico that will take advantage of harnessing the energy of polar opposite groups to achieve common goals.
Let’s take two issues that have a common goal but that also have supporters firmly planted on the opposite ends of the political spectrum: alternative energy sources and energy independence.
Environmentalists have long been critical of the oil industry because the use of its products contributes to pollution, both air and water. They have lobbied – and successfully so – to bar new refineries from being built on American soil and to prohibit any new drilling, be it in the Gulf of Mexico or in ANWR. Their goal is the preservation of the eco-system through the elimination of the use of pollutants. Of course this creates a need for foreign oil and higher gas prices.
Those concerned with our country’s national security have come to understand that a portion of each petro-dollar extracted from American wallets and delivered in trillions to countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, ends up, one way or another, funding terrorist organizations actively engaged in war against the United States. The best avenue to take, in the minds of many, is to reduce or eliminate completely the need for Middle Eastern oil so as to turn off the money spigot currently flooding those countries and many of the Islamofascist organizations subsidized by those dollars. This would require domestic oil production.
Then there is the largest segment of our citizenry, the consumer. I doubt that there is anyone, anywhere in the United States that would voluntarily pay more for gasoline. I would be shocked if there were families who would embrace paying more for fuel oil. To the consumer, any time the price of oil drops it is good news, simply for the fact that they have more money left for other things when all is said and done.
And finally, we have the elected class; always hungry to deliver something they can take credit for at election time. They would like nothing more than to be able to please all of these groups at the same time while being able to placate special interest big business.
The commonality that brings all of these diverse groups together is the desire for a more efficient, less expensive, cleaner fuel source for everyday energy needs that eliminates dependence on foreign sources.
Common goal defined. Now the trick is to achieve that goal.
Leaving alternative energy development to the oil companies is like giving the wolf a golden key to the hen house. They have absolutely no motivation to develop something that will literally make their products obsolete.
Less so, but just as unmotivated, are the auto manufacturers. Regardless of the fact that people would still need to purchase vehicles – no matter what they ran on – the automakers would still have to completely retool their assembly lines in order to accommodate for the new technology. It is easier and more profitable to remain mired in the status quo which disingenuously markets different vehicles with different energy performance capabilities to different people in different countries.
The most brilliant approach is to embrace the American entrepreneur, the private sector.
In each of the major innovations or discoveries, the source for said invention or discovery has been the American people, the American brain trust. We need to convert any and all taxpayer dollars from subsidizing alternative energy exploration by the oil companies and automakers to enabling those who apply American ingenuity to solving the problem. As my friend, syndicated radio host Greg Allen likes to say, we need a second Manhattan Project, this time aimed at developing a clean burning, efficient, less expensive fuel source with which we can power anything and everything now powered by Middle Eastern oil.
One such possibility rests with the invention of one John Kanzius, a Cleveland, Ohio inventor who stumbled on a process that creates intense energy through the process of separating the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in salt water.
Another possibility rests with a Florida inventor named Denny Klein who has just patented his process of converting H2O to HHO, producing a gas that combines the atomic power of hydrogen with the chemical stability of water. He has even outfitted his car with an engine that runs on water; no huge battery bank, no excessive weight, just a fuel efficient car that emits the acceptable by-product of...water.
And yet another inventor, Stan Meyer, who invented a water fuel cell, had the Pentagon interested in his discovery. Interestingly, disturbingly, Meyer’s life was cut short under what many believe to be nefarious circumstances.
These are just three examples of what can be achieved if our nation invests in the abilities and ingenuity of its people. We can, in an expeditious manner and at minimal cost, covert a nation completely dependent on foreign fuel sources into an energy independent nation, achieving a greater degree of national security and striking a giant blow to terrorist financing while creating a new business and achieving incredible successes in cleaning our environment.
If the oil companies spearhead the refinement of these processes and the adaptation of this technology to the existing energy infrastructure there would be no loser in moving on from the status quo at all. Every faction, every special interest group and, most importantly, every consumer benefits.
Imagine, no auto emissions, no water pollution from oil-based products, no more issues with gas price fluctuations, a new business to assimilate into the tax and revenue streams, new jobs created, energy independence achieved and never having to “run out of gas again.” Not to mention the money you would save on fuel.
It’s like a giant tax cut for everyone...a tax cut that helps industry and the environment, national security and the economy all at the same time.
The question that remains is why isn’t this technology being aggressively pursued and deployed?
Related Reading:
Salt Water into Fuel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thlNtFXy-jw
Water as Fuel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzJZJjo9MNA
Water Fuel Cell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIgOn1kRw5s&mode=related&search
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