Dealing with high fuel prices, part 1

Where are most of us feeling the biggest pinch from expensive oil? At the gas station when we're filling up our cars. What's the best way to deal with this? Figure out a way to make those cars need less oil. Then figure out a way to drive on no oil at all. And while we're at it, put those Saudis out of business.

REINVENT THE CAR

a. Start by conserving fuel with higher fuel efficiency standards.

• Deploy technology like low rolling resistance tires, a Michelin invention that saves gas.

b. Use clean diesel.

• BMW will soon be making cars in Spartanburg with 35 mile per gallon clean diesel engines.

c. Expand tax incentives for gas-electric hybrids.

• BMW has announced that its first gas-electric hybrid will be made in Spartanburg!

d. Create incentives for plug-in hybrids.

e. Develop cellulosic ethanol, moving away from corn-based ethanol which has fuel competing against food.

f . Make a moon shot, within-the-decade commitment to:

• Better batteries that charge within minutes; hold charge for hundreds of miles; and are made of elements found within the U.S.

• Better solar panels that more efficiently convert sunlight into electricity.

• Hydrogen—the most magnificent portable fuel.

America Wins!

Continuing on the theme of gas prices and such, here's a snippet from our recently-released "America Wins" action plan, a document so full of juicy ideas it could keep this blog hopping for weeks.

FUEL PRICES

Dealing with high fuel prices isn’t going to be easy, but it can be good.
Getting the answer right will set up the triple play of this American century.
Breaking our addiction to oil can:

• Improve the national security of the United States as we stop funding terrorists with our gasoline purchases;

• Create jobs in South Carolina as we develop and deploy fuels of the future; and

• Clean up the air as we switch to the clean fuels of the future.

It’s not going to be easy. It’s as though we’ve been on the couch for 35 years since the 1973 Arab oil embargo, and we’re thinking about getting up and exercising American creativity. Painful? Yes. Profitable? Amazingly.

Here’s a plan:

But just what is that plan? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned, won't you?