"Energy independence," the title of this thread, is something that has been extremely important to me not just because it's trendy or because of the increased cost of gasoline and heating oil (our northern home uses oil for heat when I'm not here and hence unable to burn good old American coal in our boiler). We were involved in this from the late '70s onward, and while much of our involvement benefited us, we felt, right or wrong, that it had the potential to benefit more than just ourselves. We did just about every retrofit we were able to do on our existing home until all consideration for all forms of alternative energy--grants, loans, research, any kind of focus at all--was done away with in the mid '80s.

I cannot help but notice that those people who claim to favor smaller government as, let's be honest, it relates to tax cuts for themselves are among those who, for example, build multimillion dollar homes on the ocean front--and they are the first to scream for government assistance when a hurricane comes and wipes away "their" beach and possibly even their home. Just curious: Is this irony? Or is it hypocrisy?

I honestly believe that many of the energy issues we are facing today stem from our being "encouraged" to use only oil and not consider alternative energy as even a small part of a solution. And IMHO we are paying a price for that today....

No one is saying that anyone HAS TO live a certain way insofar as energy usage is concerned. As pointed out earlier, we live in a country where we can "Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead" (thank you, David Farragut...). And as I pointed out on another thread, I recognized along the way that it's not my place to judge the next person: "The job of God is taken already; and besides, I'm not qualified!"

Politics aside, energy DEPENDENCE is an issue facing all of us.
My spouse and I choose to live a reasonably comfortable life, but at the lowest carbon footprint that seems tolerable. It's cheaper too!

I think T.Boone Pickens is the man, quite a vision and I like to think America will support him and we'll get through this...... Barack, McCain and Congress aside.

I like the "Living with Ed" idea about a small wind turbine on every house, I'd love one.
I don't have enough knowledge about the process and cost, it's not really out in the public yet and I'm not a trendsetter - too many scams.

Anyway, this is THE most important issue facing us for the rest of our lives.
It affects us economically, militarily, socially, globally, and whatever other "ally" one wants to include.

Just to prove a point about the short-sightedness of our corporate executives, see the quote from GM's finance chief below.
If someone who is their finance chief was surprised by "one of the fast-changing markets" he has ever seen, what is he doing in the position of being responsible for the finances of a company that size and the investments of its shareholders?
The threat to our economy on oil dependence should not come as a surprise to anyone who can even recall the oil shortages of the 1970s. What a disgrace!

WSJ - Today
GM Paces Weak July Sales Reports With 26% Decline

"GM finance chief Ray Young said the auto industry has experienced "one of the fastest-changing markets" he has ever seen, while a Ford marketing executive predicted the second half of the year will be "more challenging than the first half as economic and credit conditions weaken."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1217...=djemalertNEWS