Despite what some think tank fellows may believe, America needs to overhaul its transportation fuel supply.
Max Schulz, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute wrote an op-ed in the Arizona Republic stating that we should let market forces take care of our current and future fuel use, and that the government is "wasting energy" by pursuing fuel alternatives.
He couldn't be more wrong. The laissez-faire approach of largely only looking to the next quarter has gotten us into our current situation where our political and economic decisions are greatly influenced by turmoil in the Middle East. Schulz makes no mention of the ensuing global crunch for oil as China and India become first-world economies. Today only a small percentage of the people there drive cars, and when these billions of folks start earning higher salaries they will expect to own cars, and the global petroleum supply won't come close to matching the demand.
The potential for oil flow disruption within the OPEC nations grows greater every day, and with the potential of crude oil to zoom past the $100 barrel, the risk to our economy is too great to ignore.
Schulz says spending tax dollars on the Department of Energy is wasteful:
*"Despite this torrent of federal spending, no real energy breakthroughs have emerged from the DOE in its quarter-century of existence." *
Schulz believes that hybrid vehicles are examples of the free market at work and that they are a panacea for our future fuel needs.
So so wrong. As I previously reported, DOE funding given to the private sector resulted in advancements in the nickel metal hydride, or NiMH, battery technology that was further enhanced in Japan and is now used by hybrid vehicles.
The risk to our auto industry and ability to move essentials such as food by truck (as well as heating our homes and driving our machinery) is too great to ignore the fuel supply situation any longer. We need a Manhattan Project style commitment to developing fuel alternatives today. If we and not Asia or Europe develop the innovative technologies, America can continue to have a robust economy. If not, we will continue to be at the mercy of the oil-producing nations.
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