September 30, 2007
Response to "Is Energy Independence the Answer?"
This week's NPR show Living on Earth aired some listener responses to the commentary, "Is Energy Independence the Answer?":
GELLERMAN: We got an earful about our recent commentary from Gernot Wagner who made the case that energy independence for the United States is not only unachievable, but undesirable.For the record, I agree with Wes Taylor, and with Cat Givens. The war on terror could well be a thing of the past if we became independent from oil. But there is an important difference between independence from all oil and independence from imported oil or energy in general.
Wes Tator, who listens to LOE on New Hampshire Public Radio, emailed to say, 'I thought your speaker was right on.'
But Cat Givens from Portage Lakes, Ohio sent us 'a resounding yes' to energy independence. She tunes in to WKSU and writes: 'The war on terror would be a thing of the past if we close down our dependence on oil and use the energy resources already available to us—like...ethanol, solar, wind, and battery-powered cars. There are green alternatives we can utilize right now.'
Total oil independence might well be desirable. Becoming independent from imported energy alone, though, is not. None of this, of course says much about whether either would be achievable.
Posted by Gernot Wagner on Sunday, September 30, 2007. 
