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It’s time for the U.S. to declare independence

Published/Last Modified on Sunday, Jul 06, 2008 - 05:15:13 am MST

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To the Editor:

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence announcing the Colonies’ separation from Great Britain. The Constitution provides the legal and governmental framework for the United States of America, however, the declaration, with its eloquent assertion that “All men are created equal,” is equally beloved by the American people.

Philadelphia marked the first anniversary of independence with a spontaneous celebration, but observing Independence Day only became commonplace after the War of 1812. By the 1870s, the Fourth of July was the most important secular holiday on the calendar. Congress passed a law making Independence Day a federal holiday on June 28, 1870. After that, even far-flung communities on the western frontier managed to congregate on July Fourth, sometimes for the only time all year.

With our celebration of political independence, I felt this would be a good time to segue into the issue of our energy independence. At this time in our history, we need to become independent from foreign oil. We are a nation that runs on fuel from oil. We can become self sufficient in this area by getting our own sources of oil. We also need to explore and develop every other form of energy. We must start today. Why? We know we cannot become energy independent immediately, but we can let the world know that we are serious and that we will be energy independent as soon as possible.

When President John F. Kennedy said we would get a man on the moon and back, safely, we did it in less time than expected. We can do the same with energy independence.

There are many things we need to do simultaneously.

We need to release some of the oil in the Strategic Oil Reserve. We need to drill off shore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We need to increase the use of solar energy, wind energy and biofuels.

We need to increase the use of nuclear energy. We need to produce flex fuel cars. We need to produce ethanol (from sugar).

We know that even doing these things we will not be energy independent in the short term, but the world will know we are determined to be energy independent. We have a big job ahead of us. We can do it. After all, we are the USA.

Vera Hylsky

Sierra Vista

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Ray wrote on Jul 13, 2008 9:25 AM:

" I agree with mostly everything you say we need to do except for the ethanol part.
Ethanol is proving to do damage to engines as well as not being far behind in the price per gallon.

Actually, take those ethanol farm acres and produce food!!!! "

Passervy wrote on Jul 11, 2008 12:58 PM:

" O.K.,so you think 55 mph will eventually get us through the present oil shortage crisis. The last time we all drove 55 for almost 30 years and it had no effect, as Skeptical wrote. So how many years this time before it makes a dent? 50 years, 100, more? And as to your present formula (minus 10 mph under the posted speed), how do you work that in, say, a school zone that posts 15 mph? Do you creep along at 5 mph? Or perhaps you just come to a full stop? For sure, that'd do the trick! "

Common Sense wrote on Jul 8, 2008 4:37 PM:

" What I said is the speed limit should go back to 55 mph, not that I always drive 55 now. I wrote that I drive 10 mph under. Basic math tells us that 75mph (on I-10) minus 10 mph is 65mph. There are many people in the right lane that have gotten smart and go 65 as well, the left lane is clear and we are impeding nobody. I am not expecting to make the country oil independant myself. I prefer to take 15-30 min longer, enjoy the ride, save money, not donate to OPEC. "

Skeptical wrote on Jul 8, 2008 10:49 AM:

" Common Sense, how come 33 years of driving at 55 mph didn't make us oil independent? BTW, I'll just bet you are one of those guys who make driving the high-speed I-10 dangerous by poking along at 55 mph 'cause you think you're such a law abiding and frugal citizen. I don't mind it you want to travel at 55 mph, but for God's sake, don't do it in streaming, heavy traffic--it's against the law and it's a dangerous practice. "

Common Sense wrote on Jul 7, 2008 10:45 PM:

" We do need to go back to 55 mph. I go 10 MPH under the speed limit when going to Phx or Tucson. I don't know why we think we're all in such a rush that we can't invest an extra 15 to 30 minutes to save some money and keep the extra cash out of the hands of the terrorists and the oil cartel. "

hmmm wrote on Jul 6, 2008 6:10 PM:

" Congress and our presidential candidates are only interested in short term solutions to quiet the masses. I don't think it will work this time. What bothers me is that our US automakers blew it in the 70's by reacting too slowly to develop smaller more fuel efficient cars. They lost most of their market shares to Japanese made cars. 3 decades later, rather than investing in new technologies to free ourselves from oil demands and possibly cornering the market in new technologies, we find our US automakers behind the eight ball again trying to catch up to the Japanese. hmmm. "

Indepence from Oil wrote on Jul 6, 2008 11:01 AM:

" Vera, you have some truth in your words, but the nation needs to focus on long term energy indepence from petroleum bases sources of energy, not just on self sufficiency of oil. "

Skeptical wrote on Jul 6, 2008 7:25 AM:

" I concur in your analysis. But this is a "deja vu" thing all over again. We had the same heated debates in the 1970s when OPEC cut off crude supplies, forcing a gasoline crisis of scary proportions for a few months. After Kissinger rattled some loud swords, the crisis came to an end. Afterwards, everyone was agog and giddy with idea after idea on becoming energy independent. But after gnashing of teeth, the mighty Congress went back to its do-nothing role, leaving President Nixon to issue an executive order mandating speed limits to 55 mph. Big deal! "