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Widespread Acclaim for
Anonymous
Posted July 20, 2008
The USA is spending $2 trillion per year on foreign oil. We must find liquid fuels to replace gasoline if our economy is to survive. However, I think that Robert Zubrin's Energy Victory is more immediately practical.
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Posted May 5, 2008
¿I plan to deliver an address from the Oval Office one month from today. The topic will be oil dependence.¿ I tend to steer clear and far away from any type of political book. My disinterest stems from the obvious bias and propaganda that these types of political figures tend to bring into their views and writing. The viewpoint and rambling on and on bores my racing mind. ¿Freedom From Oil¿ was written from a completely different perspective and point of view that it took me by surprise. I was fully engrossed throughout the entire book and often referenced previous views and opinions as I read through Sandalow¿s ideas. The format of this book was written as fairly short, but highly detailed documents written to the next President of the United States by the various Director¿s and Secretary¿s within the President¿s office. Each perspective detailed the pros and cons of how to eliminate the United States¿ addiction to oil. The forward thinking approach brings in thinking from all factors which would affect the people and corporations of the US. These views facing the problem of oil addiction include memorandums from the President, his Counselor, the Secretary of Energy, the National Security Advisor, the Council on Environmental Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Economic Council, with several articles profiling American viewpoints. Solutions to the oil addition problems are presented by the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Agriculture, the US Trade Representative, the Council of Economic Advisors, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of State. Additional viewpoints include profiles and ideas presented by American citizens. The range of solutions presented include Biofuels, Plug-in Cars, Fuel Efficiency, Coal, Hydrogen, Smart Growth, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and Diplomatic Strategy. Finally, a compilation of all the problems, solutions and discussion is provided via a press release and ¿The President¿s Speech to the Nation.¿ The format presented in this book not only held my attention but strengthened my belief that all Americans should work toward finding solutions to our current energy crisis and work toward using cleaner fuels and be willing to sacrifice convenience for what is best for not only the United States, but also the world.
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Posted February 5, 2008
I just completed this book and believe it makes a great case and provides excellent support for it's conclusions.
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Posted October 10, 2007
What did you do last summer to reduce our country¿s dependence on oil? David Sandalow, a policy analyst from the Brookings Institution, had lunch with Newt Gingrich and Howard Dean. The question he put to both men was the same one that advocates of a post-oil economy have asked since the OPEC embargo of October 1973: ¿What should the United States do about its dependence on oil?¿ Surprise: The answer from both Dean and Gingrich was essentially the same. Sandalow `s book is a work of sheer imagination: Organize a book around the next President¿s first major policy speech. Imagine that it¿s April or May 2009, all of the appointments to cabinet positions have been confirmed and the first task facing these new Secretaries is a memo from the President: Four impacts Sandalow begins his analysis by noting that our policies aimed at reducing oil dependence have failed because the focus was on reducing dependence on FOREIGN oil. Duh. Big surprise. We should have been looking at ways to reduce dependence on oil in general. He captured on five pages the four points that I failed to summarize in 30 minutes of video (that currently sits on youtube in an account labeled ¿Mistermath¿). If there is just one portion of this book that future car buyers should be forced to read, it should be pages 21 to 25. One point is central to the drumbeat that electric car enthusiasts have been repeating for three decades: our dependence on oil strengthens oil-exporting nations. The second, that oil dependence helps Al Qaeda, is a new extension of this theme. The third comes from a military analyst: dependence on oil leads to deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, anywhere there are troops deployed in the field, the dependence of armed forces on oil puts personnel involved in transportation of fuel supplies in jeopardy. Sandalow¿s point is emphasized with a profile of General Richard Zilmer (who deserves a medal of honor for pushing solar-powered generators to replace the need for gasoline or diesel powered generators). Nine additional profiles are sprinkled through the text, making the executive summaries more digestible. Sandalow is not just a policy wonk adept at summarizing talking points. His imaginative selection of advocates has introduced me to the complex variety of skills that will be needed to move into the post-petroleum era. His fourth point should be displayed on every gasoline pump: ¿oil dependence undermines democracy and good governance around the world.¿ Sandalow¿s key points (push more batteries, use the federal buying power to jumpstart demand for plug-in hybrid vehicles that run largely on batteries, change zoning to encourage compact development, reduce highway subsidies) will attract detractors, but some candidate could gain a bump in the polls by driving in an all-electric vehicle now and avoid using any gasoline for the next year of campaigning. (Ha!) The book ends with the text of the major policy speech, which could in fact turn into both a stump speech for current candidates and a major segment of the next inaugural address to the nation. Can you imagine the next president saying the following sentences on January 2009? The federal gasoline tax will be increased 10 cents per gallon per year for the next five years. Within six months, every car I drive in will be a ¿plug-in¿ hybrid vehicle. When U.S. automakers invest in energy savings and higher fuel efficiency, then the federal government will cover health care for retired autoworkers (the proposed ¿great bargain¿ with carmakers) The book correctly focuses on the need to increase the number of lithium-ion batteries in use. Why wait for the federal government to buy 100,000 vehicles? Why not call now for economic patriots to convert their vehicles to battery power?
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