Summary
Presidents have been promising energy independence since Richard Nixon addressed the nation amid the Arab oil embargo more than 30 years ago. For Jimmy Carter - who declared "the moral equivalent of war," or MEOW, as Russell Baker observed - the path to energy independence led through synfuels, photovoltaic cells and cardigan sweaters. Today, both presidential candidates wax whimsically about eliminating America's addiction to Middle East oil. But neither has put forward a plan that could achieve this in the foreseeable future.
To his credit, Mr. Bush favors exploiting the nation's largest untapped oil reserves in Alaska and significantly expanding the role of nuclear energy. To his discredit, Mr. Kerry entered the presidential race by pledging to lead the filibuster against any energy bill that included development of the estimated 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil (each barrel contains 42 gallons) in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Moreover, despite embracing the Kyoto treaty's caps on carbon emissions, which would force drastic cuts in U.S. energy production, Mr. Kerry opposes expanding nuclear power, which generates no greenhouse gases.See the full content of this document
Extract
Energy Realities and the Election
With less than 5 percent of the world's population and 3 percent of the world's proven oil reserves, the United States consumes about 25 percent of the w...
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