By Craig Vipond
Since July 2008 members of the Pickens Plan army have been working to spread the word about the continuing dangers of our dependence on foreign oil. In August ? even with oil at about half the price it was in 2008 ? we still spent over $25 billion to import more than 60 percent of the oil we used in just one month. That is money which could have been supporting the American economy, instead of the economies of places like Saudi Arabia, Angola and Venezuela.
Natural gas is an abundant resource which can replace a significant percentage of that imported oil. It is cleaner than either gasoline or diesel, it is cheaper than imported oil and we have reserves projected to last more than 100 years.
There is a bill in Congress, the NAT GAS Act (H.R. 1835 and S. 1408), which will help jump-start the natural gas vehicle industry in the United States. It has nearly 90 bipartisan co-sponsors in the House making the NAT GAS Act one of the few substantive bills in Congress with the support of both parties. I urge our representatives in Washington to move the NAT GAS Act onto the House and Senate floor for a vote this fall, so it can quickly be signed into law by President Obama. Let”s reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.
Craig Vipond
Upper Lake
