If you've scratched around in previous posts, you know CCC likes wind and solar. This bird is also intrigued by T. Boone Pickens' recent ideas. So, what does Mr. Rasoul have in mind?
He began by laying out the problem much as Mr. Pickens has done - in the early 70s we imported about 25% of our oil; today it is almost 70% costing over $33 million per hour. He calls his plan "Zero Petrol by 2050" and suggests a man-on-the-moon commitment from the federal government to make it happen. Good energy policy, he noted, is also good economic policy. Key points he made for the long term:
- Incentives to the auto industry to encourage hybrid and other efficient vehicles
- Cellulosic ethanol which is more efficient to produce than corn ethanol and helps hold down the price of coarse cracked corn
- Government purchasing of fuel efficient vehicles to boost the market and set an exmple
- Government supported R&D in new technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells.
Rasoul does recognize that in the short term oil will continue to drive our economy. He supports the "Responsible Oil and Gas Lease Act" which pushes companies to begin exploring and drilling on 68 million acres of currently leased federal land. One would think the soaring oil prices would be encouragement enough, assuming there are sufficient oil and gas deposits there.
CCC wishes he'd talked a little more about wind and solar, especially since wind turbines are planned in parts of the 6th District and there were solar panels in the background. Perhaps that will be a greater emphasis as his ideas evolve.
Equally interesting will be watching coverage of this event on TV3 and NBC29 which have only recently begun covering this race. Tomorrow's DNR could also be interesting - but will it be "fair and balanced."
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