When should the problem of high oil prices have been addressed now or 15 years ago when it was first projected

Some people are acting as though no one could have foreseen the rise in oil prices. I've been reading articles for years projecting this. And the generous lead-time on a new oil well is 10 to 15 years btw.When should the problem of high oil prices have been addressed now or 15 years ago when it was first projected
Well, the Republicans will blame the democrats, and the Democrats will blame the republicans.


One group will say we need to do more drilling NOW, so this does not happen in the future.


And the other group will say we need to find alternative sources of energy, so we can get rid of our oil dependence.





Why can't we do BOTH??When should the problem of high oil prices have been addressed now or 15 years ago when it was first projected
Because the Democrats have blocked offshore drilling for 30 years and still do. Had they gotten their heads out of their #%26amp;^@*# then, we wouldn't be in this mess now.





The problem is that Democrats think the high prices are actually a blessing. Less fossil fuel use, fewer highway deaths, etc, etc, it's all for our own good. Don't think for a second they're not high-fiving each other every chance they get behind closed doors, just like they do everytime a soldier dies in Iraq.





It's pathetic, and it's even more pathetic that people are falling for their BS.
Sounds like a rhetorical question Cow. But I think the gas crisis and oil embargo was in the 1970s. Congress did do something: they mandated the CAFE standards for fuel efficiency. Then, under pressure from Detroit, Congress allowed SUVs to guzzle gas as an exception to the CAFE law.





Pretty irresponsible of Congress to do this. Pretty irresponsible of Americans to buy SUVs and muscle cars. Pretty irresponsible of Detroit to go down this path.





Americans would prefer to become a 2nd rate nation than cut back on oil use. Not much we can do about it if we continue to choose to be pigs.
Everyone else did---and did something to make themselves less dependent on oil--except for the U.S. Driving a car should not be a necessity, it should be something like a fun event---in America people NEED a car to go to their jobs--in other countries people go to work via bus,subway, or train and drive their cars for the fun of it.....just go to Europe and see how they do it---that's why they can charge so much for gas over there....if people don't want to pay for the gas, they can take the bus to work....over here, if people don't want to pay the gas they can lose their jobs because there is no alternative(except from and to some areas).....We should have done something 20 years ago already....instead, we quit building nuclear power plants....so whose fault is it?
As 'suth' and 'Imfoxy' pointed out, it was actually 30 years ago that we had an excellent opportunity and the lead time to come up with solutions. Unfortunately, the 'collective we' lost focus because the 'collective we' is not really forward thinking, opting for an easy path today and ignoring that such actions will make the path much harder in the future.





The goal of Carter's plan was to get the US away from it's dependency on OPEC by funding research for alternative energy sources and providing tax incentives for installing solar systems and insulation. We could have had a 30 year jump on energy solutions but instead we're facing more critical energy problems with less time for solutions and a current Energy Plan that provides $8 billion dollars in 'welfare' payments to the oil business as well as rebates to buy gas-guzzling Hummers.


-- 28 Years Later - a comparison:


http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0503鈥?/a>


-- April 18, 1977


http://www.mnforsustain.org/energy_speec鈥?/a>


-- From recent news article, hindsight is 20/20:


http://www.sciencefriday.com/blog/index.鈥?/a>


http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/arc鈥?/a>



';Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 -- never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation. The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks right now and then reversed...'; -- Some fool in 1979
How about now, since we really can't do anything about what happened 15 years ago.





It's all typical politics. Why act on something today that will have an impact 15 years later. Just leave it for the politicians 15 years from now to deal with.
Carter was the first president to address our oil dependency.


What did we do after that?? We built bigger cars.


Nobody listened to him.






In reality, if you go back far enough, Carter addressed this issue during his administration. Nothing has been done since then (by either side).
no spin


clinton vetoed drilling when he was in office





hugs!
Well... we can either set our clocks back 15 years, or get to it.