ENERGY INDEPENDENCE:  

We have the ability and the resources to achieve energy independence very quickly.  Failure to do so weakens our national defense much more than not having a strong military or not having the best and most powerful weapons.  We purchase oil from many countries who do not like us like Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria, etc.  Any one of these countries could bring down our country simply by closing the oil tap. 

Why in the world are we not energy independent when we have the resources and technology to do so? 

France derives 80% of its electrical power from nuclear power plants.  Every nuclear facility that France builds can be built quickly because they just copy the design of previous power plants.  Here in the United States we are required to start from scratch in the design of these plants, not to mention having to go through years of ridiculous red tape.  Why? 

We also have tremendous reserves of oil in Alaska, off of our coasts, in the oil shale in the West and many other places, but there are tremendous obstacles placed in the way of extracting this energy.  Why? 

We subsidize corn to be used as ethanol when sugar cane is eight times more efficient.  Why?  We have the world's greatest coal reserves and we also have the technology to burn coal cleanly and efficiently.  Why are we not developing more coal energy? 

 
Let's drop all barriers to developing more energy immediately and remove all  unreasonable restrictions to where such exploration should take place.  Not drilling for oil in ANWR is totally ridiculous as well as not drilling in the giant oilfields off our coasts.