American Energy Independence Plan
"Go All The Way: Do It All, Do It Now!"

The following is a comprehensive, common sense plan for achieving American Energy Independence and lowering the cost of fuel and electricity.  It will affect oil and gasoline prices immediately upon enactment, it can be accomplished in 10 - 12 years, it will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and it can be done without any major scientific breakthroughs, permanent environmental harm, or additional taxes.

This plan can be enacted in separate initiatives but will be most effective if all aspects of it are enacted at once.  This, or any other plan, can only succeed if we maintain the will to see it through to completion and do not abandon components of it as the situation improves.

Increase Domestic Oil Production
We currently import about 10 million barrels of oil and 11 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily.  Our highest priority must be to increase domestic oil and natural gas production by an equivalent amount as soon as we possibly can, but no longer than 10 - 12 years.

Increase Domestic Refinery Capacity
We currently import nearly 3.5 million barrels of refined petroleum products each day.  We must make it a priority to increase refinery capacity by at least that amount as soon as possible, but no longer than 7 - 10 years.

Discourage Speculation
There is considerable debate over whether, and if so how much, speculation has led to increases in the price of oil. Regardless, there are measures we can take to eliminate any possible speculation premium there may be due to oil commodities and futures trading.

Promote Energy Conservation
We should strongly support all energy efficiency and conservation efforts.  We can cut our total energy use significantly by adopting new technologies, using more energy efficient products, and making some small changes in our everyday life.

Increase Renewable Energy Use
We should strongly support the expanded use of solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro as energy sources.  We should also strongly support a large, sustainable, and cost effective bio-fuels production program using non-food sources as feedstock.

Increase Nuclear Power Use
Nuclear power is the only realistic alternative to fossil fuels for generating large amounts of clean, reliable, and safe energy that is available today and that can meet our current and future needs until other energy sources are discovered and/or commercialized.

Increase Clean Coal Use
We should strongly support the use of clean coal for power and fuel generation.   Clean coal technologies used in power plants now produce less pollution than natural gas plants and clean coal gasification/liquefaction must be embraced as part of the total solution.

Develop Alternative Energy Sources
We should strongly support the research, development, and commercialization of all viable alternative energy sources such as hydrogen, fusion, and ocean power.  We should also aggressively support researching "unconventional" ideas as appropriate.