CARTER GOT IT RIGHT ALMOST 30 YEARS AGO

If we had followed up on Jimmy Carter's advice on July 15, 1979 maybe we wouldn't be in such an energy bind right now. From Anonymous Liberal at Crooks & Liars:

In little more than two decades we’ve gone from a position of energy independence to one in which almost half the oil we use comes from foreign countries, at prices that are going through the roof. Our excessive dependence on OPEC has already taken a tremendous toll on our economy and our people. . . .

This intolerable dependence on foreign oil threatens our economic independence and the very security of our nation. The energy crisis is real. It is worldwide. It is a clear and present danger to our nation. These are facts and we simply must face them. . . .

To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation’s history to develop America’s own alternative sources of fuel –from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the sun. . .