Achieving Energy Independence
The United States today imports 60 percent of its oil, a situation that places our economy and our national security at risk. Jim Gilmore believes we can do better! As President, Jim Gilmore will launch a national energy independence project called American Energy Freedom, a NASA like effort to motivate and stimulate American ingenuity and technology using research and development tax incentives to help free our nation from its dependence on foreign oil within 25 years. In the meantime, Jim Gilmore will push for steady and dramatic increases in domestic energy production and an increase in the size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Jim Gilmore also will support expanding our use of alternative fuels like ethanol, making dramatic improvements in battery technology for plug-in hybrid vehicles and the long-range development of hydrogen power for vehicles.
It appears that Governor Gilmore is a conservative in the President G. W. Bush (43rd) mode. Cut taxes and enlarge government. Here we have a plan to build a federal agency modeled after NASA, which spends billions (nearly 17 in the FY 08 budget) but has trouble making one launch per billion. Gov. Gilmore's American Energy Freedom Agency (AEFA?) would duplicate NASA's model with the goal of putting itself out of business in 25 years. Sounds Attractive. But when was the last time you saw a Federal Agency go out of existence? Once created they hard to kill.
If Governor Gilmore really wants energy independence he should think about a market based solution. If he can't come up with one on his own, he could log on to the Cato Institute or some other think tank.
I have had enough of big government conservatism the past eight years.
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