"drill baby drill"

Fueled (no pun intended) by my Halloween costume and a speech given by Sarah Palin on energy this past week, I feel the need to question her concept of energy independence.

Palin’s speech emphasized the need for America to become energy independent. I found it peculiar that she cited offshore drilling as a viable answer, but neglected to emphasize that to which her audience of Xunlight employees/engineers advocates: solar energy.

The problem, I feel, is deeply rooted in the flawed way we view energy use in America. I feel like this platform taken here feeds the addiction rather than offering alternatives. Our culture endorses over consumption (on multiple levels), and it is rather absurd to believe that we can eliminate dependence on foreign oil solely through offshore drilling without significant investment in alternative energy technologies and conservation efforts. America consumes 25% of the world’s oil, and owns a mere 3% of the world’s oil reserves. The answer to this crisis lies not with finding more oil, but in weaning ourselves from the “addiction” through legislation focusing on conservation, and promotion of alternative energy sources. There needs to be a change in the way we perceive energy use.

I guess “Conserve baby conserve” or “Alternative energy baby alternative energy” doesn’t roll of the tongue nearly as nicely as “drill baby drill”...

Wouldn’t a drastic change in the way our culture views energy use, rather than sustaining habits detrimental to the environment, be an idea a self proclaimed “maverick” would support?

“You Betcha”.