Charlie Crystle Blog: Hoeffel's Energy Plan Reflects a Positive Change in His Campaign for Senate

May 31, 2004

Hoeffel's Energy Plan Reflects a Positive Change in His Campaign for Senate

When I campaigned for Senate last year I emphasized the importance of having a plan. You can't lead without a vision for the future and a plan to get there. And certainly you can't win the Senate race without telling voters what you plan to do when you get to the Senate.

Hoeffel introduced his energy plan last week, calling for energy independence and offering a few long-term solutions, including investing in renewable energy. Specter lacks any plan. His plan is to do as he's told by the Right he now fears and is so in bed with. Joe presents a vision for energy policy that keeps energy costs lows, mitigates our risky and singular dependence on foreign oil, and promotes something that will impact America much more positively than the price of gasoline: innovation.

We currently have tax laws that encourage the purchase of heavy, gas-guzzling SUVs through 100% deductibility, no energy plan, and no national appreciation of the long-term consequences of our singular dependence on oil. With peak oil production approaching, we're soon on the downward slope of the availability of oil. We must change before we face yet another energy crisis, which is likely to be much deeper and painful than our series of current ones.

When you consider voting for Hoeffel or Specter, make this election about vision and none. Make it about plans to get there and not about the comfortable status quo. Make it about leadership, not about following leaders, as Specter has to curry political favor for his primary election. Make it about a long-term strategic vision for the country, and not about a flurry of federal checks Specter throws around to gain local favor.

If you make it about these things--the substantive, important things--the choice is clear.

Posted by Charlie Crystle at May 31, 2004 01:48 PM | TrackBack

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Posted by: adipex at July 25, 2004 12:01 PM

Neil, you're right. Except that peak oil production--which is the time after which the world's crude oil supply begins to dwindle--is estimated to occur in the next 7-10 years. At that point, oil prices will skyrocket and our economy will hit the floor because the cost of everything dependent on oil-based transportation or energy will go through the roof. And once again, the first to get hit--and the most serverely--will be the poor and the middle class.

Jeremy Rifkin's book "The Hydrogen Economy" expresses a vision based on current scientific and technical knowledge I think would interest you.

Our energy failures are not a question of cost, innovation, or technology, they are simply a failure of will. We lack the political will. American car companies have failed to develop innovative, low-impact, high-efficiency models. Yet Toyota has a 6-month backlog of orders for the Prius, which gets on average about 51 mpg. I drove on this weekend, and it's bigger, faster, safer, and cooler than most economy cars like the Honda Civic or Chevy Malibu. At least the Civic gets 35 mpg.

In the Fall, Toyota will be coming out with the Lexus Hybrid SUV and the Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV. Now, SUVs are a waste of materials and are hell in an accident if you're on the other side of the equation. But the point is Toyota is light years ahead of the Big 3 here in the US. I am very much a Buy American kind of a guy--I think it's important to buy locally as much as possible. But Toyota earned my business and I plan to buy one of the hybrids this fall. If Ford can get theirs out the door, I'll definitely consider that.

The point is, we lack national vision for energy. It's good to see Joe offer an outline to get the conversation going. Here's what I had to say during the campaign.

http://www.charliecrystle.com/archives/000129.html#000129

Let me know what you think. Also, check out the Apollo Project...

http://www.apolloalliance.org/

Posted by: Charlie Crystle at June 1, 2004 11:09 AM

What is needed to make this subject real and forceful are independently gathered and verified FACTS about the amount of oil left in the world and how fast it is being consumed. Without that, it just does not do any good to try and convince folks that they have to change their ways for a possible event that would be 200 years away, so you can delay that event 50 more years. Couple that with the disbelief most Americans have for the unpleasant facts they are being told/sold by certain groups, and you can understand why most folks are pretty skeptical of energy policies calling for big changes now. I know I don't believe this current run up in prices is anything but another insiders profit making farce! Convince me otherwise!

Neil

Posted by: Neil at June 1, 2004 10:05 AM