Time for real change?

Although the price for a barrel of oil has been continually dropping for the last month (from a record high of around $140 to hover around $70 at close today) the prices at the pump haven't dropped quite as fast. By my math (and I'm not a rocket surgeon) sweet crude has dropped around 50% while a gallon of regular unleaded (in Rutherford and Davidson County TN where I do most of my driving) has gone down from of a high $3.99 (average) to $2.79. That's a reduction of only 29%. Even at a drop of say….35% that should put unleaded around $2.60. Right? At a comparable drop of 50%, the price would be..well, you get the picture. I filled up my Nissan Frontier Tuesday and felt like celebrating when I spent less than $40 dollars.

My point for bringing this up is…does anyone doubt once winter in over and spring has sprung in March or April, oil won't shoot up again? And what are we doing to reduce our dependency, or improve our supply of the major source of energy that greases the wheels of our economy? (Pun intended). Nothing. Has one new oil well been drilled on our continental shelf since congress let the 40 year old ban on drilling die a silent death? Have you heard anything about one plan to build another refinery? I doubt it.

The argument used by the left is that any new drilling will take 8 to 10 years to reach the market and affect the price of oil. But…that's the same argument that was used a decade ago. A decade ago if we had resolved to increase our domestic production and refinery output by say…20%, do you think in 2008 we'd have seen the price of gas rocket to $4 a gallon? Probably not. Has anyone heard anymore from T. Boone Pickens and his wind farms? Any new Nuclear Power Plants in the works? Or are we just content to go on business as usual, rejoicing that right now we're saving a little money at the pump until the next time Iran fires another test missile, or other a storm blows in the gulf, or some crazies in Nigeria blow up a pipeline in Africa and the speculators start the process all over again?

What we as America needs, is a completely revolutionary plan. Granted, anything new will take time to develop, and we'll need to drill our own oil now, build wind farms, and nuclear plants in the interim to make the transition, however…we need to seriously rethink our addiction to foreign oil if we are to survive as an economic superpower, and not just survive…but thrive over the next 20, 30 or 40 years.

One revolutionary idea has been formulated by Chuck Tipton, a no nonsense, practical man that I hold in the highest regard. He's not a scientist or economist, just someone who can look at a problem, and figure out a way around it. He doesn't have a fancy website like T. Boone or a high paid energy lobby on his side. All he has is...well, us. We the People. Here's his plan. Read it. Think about what it would mean for our country. And if it makes sense to you, as it did to me, send it on to your friends and like minded thinkers. Maybe if we're lucky somewhere down the line, someone with vision and a position important enough to affect real change, who is tired of going about doing business as usual and sees the economic destruction a real future oil crisis would bring will see it and say, "Dang, why weren't we doing this 8 to 10 years ago?" As an afterthough, I wonder how far 850 billion dollars spent on a real solution to our economy problems would have gone to get this started and get us on our way to energy independence and a brighter future?

Here's Chuck Tipton's vision:

1. We must build the Transportation Super Highway.

2. The Transportation Super Highway is a system of electric/ hybrid cars with the ability to latch on to a rail and run on electricity, all going the same direction and speed.

3. The Transportation Super Highway will eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, reduce green house gases, help reduce highway crowding and gridlock, revitalize the steel, construction, auto, and computer industries.

4. Basic Concept:
a. Electric/Hybrid Cars with the capability to lock on a rail and run on electricity for distance travel.
b. Cars can leave the rail at switching stations allowing them to be driven around locally on battery power. The batteries can be charged by plugging in at home or from the electricity of the rail.
c. The system gives people the option of high speed rail travel without the disadvantages of trains. They don’t have to wait for trains to load or unload or stop at various destinations along the way. People have the option of running on the rail at high speed all driven by computer until they reach a destination when they can exit the rail and drive independently just like they do now with regular cars.
d. Instead of paying for gas at the pump people can be direct billed each month for distance they travel and the time they spend on the rail.
e. Long distance travel will be safer, cars locked to the rail can’t swerve into oncoming traffic. Everyone on the rail will travel the same direction and speed.
f. To leave the rail drivers can exit at the next station just like they exit off the interstate now.
g. People can choose to purchase cars that are Hybrid running on natural gas, battery or electric rail which could be used to run on the rail where electricity isn’t available.
h. Electricity can be produced in many different ways, clean coal, nuclear, solar, bio technology, geo thermal, wind and water.

5. Benefits:
a. Revitalize the construction industry, someone has to build it.
b. Support the engineering industry, someone has to design it.
c. Help the computer industry, it will require hardware and sophisticated software to make it work.
d. The steel industry, the rails and electrical components will require a lot steel and wire.
e. The auto industry, everyone will need a new car.
f. We can end our dependence on foreign oil, we can conserve our own oil for defense; planes, tanks, ships etc. We won’t need to secure foreign sources of oil, we can stop foreign wars over oil. We can stabilize the cost of energy which will stabilize our economy and allow us to stop hemorrhaging our nations wealth overseas.
g. We can export the technology and hardware overseas, which will improve our economy and our trade imbalance.
h. The transportation superhighway will have the same if not greater effect on the economy and the way we get from point A to point B just like the Information Superhighway revolutionized the way we move information and the way and the way people conduct their lives.
i. People will be able to do other things while they travel; read, work on a computer, watch TV, sleep. The rail system can be designed to run on computer when the cars are hooked to the rail.

6. Disadvantages:
a. It could hurt the oil industry, but oil companies need to become energy companies not just oil companies, they can produce and sell the energy needed to run the super highway.
b. It will hurt the airline industry but the airlines can retool to run the system making sure it all runs smoothly, billing scheduling etc.
c. It will hurt gas stations, but the gas stations can become exchange stations where the people get on and off of the rails, they will need bathrooms, convenience items, everything they get at their current convenience centers except gas. Of course if they run hybrids they will need natural gas.
d. The road building and construction industry can build the rails.

7. I am not proposing a simple change, I am proposing a revolution in transportation. People don’t buy gas they buy the ability to get from point A to point B. If they have a better way; cheaper, faster, safer they will take it. The sooner the big companies and the people in charge learn that the sooner we can fix our country.

8. People want to be patriotic, they want to do the right thing but they can’t if it’s not convenient and affordable. This system will be both. They can travel long distances at high speed with out stopping. They can’t do that on a train. They can leave when they want and travel economically and have personal transportation at their destination. They can’t do that with airlines. Cars dependant on fossil fuels just aren’t going to work anymore. Ethanol isn’t going to get there with current technology. Oil and time are running out. If we act now, we can beat the coming collapse when the oil is gone.

9. The technology to make this work is available now, we can build it now, it just needs government priority, and private investment. It has the potential to be a multibillion if not multi trillion dollar industry that can stabilize our economy. We can do it. It will work. We have to have a revolution in transportation. We cannot wait any longer.
I know there is very little chance that Mr. Buffet will see this email, but it is important for America and I have to try.
We can save our economy; we can stop the bleeding of our economy to pay for foreign energy.
Together we can save our country.
Thank you. My name is Charles Tipton. I can be reached at 423-967-5142 or chuck.tipton@us.army.mil.