Getting it Fixed

-As we keep pumping 4-dollar-a-gallon gasoline into our much-less-than-efficient vehicles in this country, I keep wondering if all the talk about finding another way is ever going to turn into a real workable plan. It seems if anything is left up to Congress, it tuns into endless wheel-spinning, snorting and cussing. When you think about how many dollars have been invested in oil-industry infrastructure, and how many billions of dollars those companies stand to lose in a switch to some other fuel, one has to believe change would require some catastrophic event, an oil war, or economic paradigm shift. A mandate from the people to their members of Congress, with an "or else" behind it just might get it done.

So where is there a vision that takes what we have now and transitions us into a really workable non-oil economy? And can someone with enough clout get behind the idea and push it to the masses in a way that might get a majority of us excited? Those are the questions that kept rattling around in my head.

Then, I get an e-mail the other day from a friend who tends to stay in touch with e-mails. Some are worth a little time, some a lot. This one really intrigued me because it linked me to the plan being put forth by T. Boone Pickens. I won't go into all of his ideas because you might already know them, or you might not want to read them all here. But, I looked over the website that he's developed to get his ideas out. I'm sure some economists and politicians who will pooh-pooh the plan. Anybody who would be gored ecomically or politically will try to poke holes in it. But this guy..meaning me.. right here and right now, seems to think it has some merit. We're sending bazillions of dollars overseas every year to buy oil and fight wars. Can't we agree on taking care of ourselves inside our own borders with a plan like this?

Pickens is an old oil man who knows a little about how the business works...and doesn't work. So that adds a little credibility to the mix too. He's starting to get some national play in the media...and some attention in Washington.

Check out the Pickens Plan here. Might be something worth a little of our national conversation at the least.