If polls are accurate, federal policies that have blocked development of energy alternatives and stifled energy consumption could be quickly ended in the early days of the next president's first term.
Two widely separated polls taken about the same time this summer show:
n Sixty-four percent of consumers in six Western states—Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming—would be willing to pay higher prices for energy from clean, renewable sources.
n Eighty-three percent of consumers nationwide support investment in wind, solar and biofuel energies to end the $700 billion U.S. addiction to oil. A whopping 81 percent believe hybrid vehicles will have a significant impact on the nation's energy problems.
Interestingly, in the nationwide poll, only 48 percent favored the "gas tax holiday" proposed by Sen. John McCain.
Although in the Western states polling, 69 percent also favored drilling for oil on public lands, the significance of other numbers in the two polls is the heavy tilt toward alternative energies and the willingness to pay premium prices.
Not to be overlooked is another meaning. While they dithered with protecting the status quo of industries that produce and use petroleum, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Congress ignored public support for a change in energy policies that could have fueled a crash program to end imports of so much oil.
Although both presidential candidates favor new energy policies, Republican McCain is more apt to continue all or some of the Bush-Cheney policies, whereas Democratic Sen. Barack Obama could be counted on to trigger drastic improvements.
Combined with an end to the costly Iraq war, a major shift to alternative energies and fuels would not only put the brakes on soaring U.S. debt and trade deficit, it would free up resources to concentrate on rehabilitation of the American infrastructure that is in a humiliating state of disrepair. Among industrialized nations, U.S. schools, dams, bridges, waterworks, electrical grids and other systems are far behind in modernization.
Americans obviously are hungry for a program to end the cycle of energy nightmares that come with instability in the petro states of OPEC and the pandering to industries that prefer the status quo.
The raw material for a revolution against old oil policies—public support—is here and ready.
All that's needed to end the old and begin the new is a president with the vision of what's best for the United States, not what's best for cronies.
