Energy

By Paul A. Smith

My plan to get us going again!

Why can't we keep up? When you think of all the battles that have gone on over the use and control of oil, the wars, the shortgages, and the environmental issues, I believe the time is ripe to take a different approach. The plain truth is that at some point in time we will become hostages in our own country by foreign countries that can charge anything they want for energy and we will have no control over price and distribution. So what are we doing today that will keep us from the coming crises?

I want to put forth an aggressive energy plan that merges private and public concerns and uses solar power to start fueling our country's electricity needs. In Germany farmers have turned areas of their farms into solar panels and sell the electricty back to the utility companies. Their government is solidly behind all this. Why can't we do something similar with all the free sunlight that is available? First of all we need to make it cost effective. Secondly our government is going to have to take a radical approach and get behind renewable energy on a scale never seen before. However, waiting until gas hits $5.00 per gallon and then jumping on the bandwagon will be too late. So we are going to have to make unique parnerships that we never thought were possible to take the next leap. Financing, land, governmental, and environmental groups all need to pitch in to create energy zones and create a new industry that is renewable, creates jobs, and is greener than anything we have done before. To use a familiar phrase, "Boldly go were no one has ever gone before."

I will lead the charge in getting our area off oil dependency and onto renewable sources of energy. The Sacramento area has an incredible opportunity to become the hot bed of solar energy and job creation with our sunny climate. With several universities, industrial zones, and access to ship products worldwide, I will lead our Congress in this critical area. It will be a herculean task, but I won't stop until we become independant of foreign oil!