In the Trenches: An impossible dream?

After 9/11, I wrote what I called "The Missing Speech."

It was my imagined call from the Oval Office to confront our ever-growing - and increasingly dangerous - dependence on oil from hostile nations. As New York Times columnist Tom Friedman noted, this was the first time in American history that we were funding both sides of a conflict in which we were involved.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, Americans unquestionably would have set aside partisan and personal interests to respond. Yet no such call was forthcoming, nor did Congressional leaders of both parties act with any greater, much less sustained, sense of purpose and unity.

Instead, in the blink of an eye, we were back to partisan posturing, regional protectionism, industry lobbying, and name-calling. In other words, public policy as Washington gridlock had returned.

Americans weren't asked to rethink their driving habits and save oil as the modern-day equivalent of buying war bonds or knitting socks for our servicemen. No, we were asked to shop, as a stimulus for the economy.

What a lost opportunity!

Given the vested interests in any energy debate, that post-9/11 opportunity to move forward as one was unique - and fleeting.

And think where we'd be seven years later had this become a full-court press, along the lines of the Manhattan Project or the effort to place a man on the moon.

Instead, where are we?

To put it gently, up the creek.

Our oil dependence has only grown.

The prices of natural resources have skyrocketed.

Petrodollars are flowing out of the United States at a rate that some have described as the greatest transfer of wealth in global history.

Countries like Libya, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela are strutting across the world stage, their coffers overflowing with oil revenue. (The US does not buy oil directly from Iran, but Teheran, of course, has also been a beneficiary of high oil and gas prices, allowing it to pursue its nuclear and military ambitions.)

Meanwhile, American influence has diminished as a consequence of this economic bleeding, and the lack of national planning and discipline it so glaringly reveals.

Sovereign wealth funds in many dollar-rich countries, including in the Persian Gulf, are being used to purchase American (and other) assets, often at bargain-basement prices.

And, of course, we have come to understand the potentially irreversible damage to our environment due to greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels.

So, in these seven years, thanks to a virtual paralysis of public policy, we can point to further threats to our national security, the weakening of our national economy, and damage to our environment.

Yet, critics will counter, Congress passed an energy bill last year. True, something is better than nothing, but it's a far cry from the mobilization required.

Alas, the moment for that post-9/11 speech I envisioned is long gone. But another speech is needed. If I could be indulged a flight of fancy, leaders of both political parties would give it.

It might go something like this:

Even in an election year, we know that certain issues cannot be pushed back until the advent of a new administration. The need for a serious national energy policy simply cannot wait even a day longer. Nor should it be subjected to endless debate and parliamentary maneuvering, as if one party needed to prove that it wants it even more than the other.

The cost of oil today is punishingly high. We realize the pain it inflicts, especially on low-income and fixed-income families. But we need to level with you. We are not going to resort to flash-in-the-pan gimmicks to reduce the cost, be they the release of oil from our strategic petroleum reserve, which exists to guard against national security emergencies, or temporary gas tax reductions, which are ultimately nothing more than short-term pandering. That would be irresponsible in the extreme.

No, the truth is that the solution won't come overnight. But it will come because when America has the will, it finds the way.

And let's be honest with ourselves. While we as a nation dithered, allowing ourselves to believe that we could be awash in plentiful and affordable oil from here to eternity, some other nations took action.

Look around.

Brazil was even worse off in the 1970s than we are today, importing the great bulk of its oil from the Middle East. Today, thanks to the development of sugar-based ethanol, domestic drilling, and vehicles that run on flex fuels, Brazil, a country nearly as large as our own, is energy independent.

Many European countries, by tax policies, discouraged use of gas guzzlers, while making public transportation affordable, reliable, and convenient. Take train travel, for example. In many cases, cars and planes have been displaced by far more fuel-efficient trains that reach speeds unheard of in our country.

The same is true in Japan, a country with almost no energy resources of its own. Since the oil shock of the 1970s, Japan has achieved a level of energy efficiency, matched by a sustained national focus on conservation, which makes it a model for the industrialized world.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, the Israeli government announced an ambitious program to put 100,000 electric cars on the road by 2010. It's a joint venture between Nissan-Renault, the alliance of car giants, and an Israeli-American entrepreneur. Denmark has also signed on to this cutting-edge project.

In other words, it can be done.

Here's our bottom line.

First, we understand there's no one-size-fits-all answer to the energy challenge. We will be open to all serious ideas to move us away from our addiction. We recognize that an all-encompassing program must embrace three core elements - seeking new foreign and domestic sources of oil, pursuing conservation, and exploring alternative energy sources. And we acknowledge that a serious push toward energy independence will require a commitment of years, even decades.

Second, we propose the creation of OPIC, the Organization of Petroleum Importing Countries, as our answer to OPEC. By working more collaboratively with other dependent nations to seek workable energy solutions, we will leverage our strength and pool our research.

Third, our message to American corporations is: If you haven't yet figured it out, there's green in green. A veritable revolution in energy use is beginning, and it will affect every corner of America. This is a time for innovation. And the market rewards are likely to be significant.

Painful as it is to acknowledge, Detroit lost ground because it refused to see what was so obvious to its competitors in Japan - and because some lawmakers shortsightedly sought to protect Detroit from the winds of change. Instead of focusing on McMisers, Detroit chose instead to concentrate on McGuzzlers, with their higher profit margins. That has proved a costly mistake in an era of soaring gas prices.

Fourth, this is not just about what government can do for the nation. It's equally about what Americans are prepared to do for themselves. Until now, politicians of both parties have been loath to ask for behavioral changes from you, the American people, fearing that they would be punished on Election Day. Well, punish us if you must, but leadership requires us to say that we’re all in the same boat - and that boat has sprung a leak.

Two-thirds of our oil use is related to transportation, so each of us has to consider what we can do to reduce consumption starting here. Will the next vehicle purchase seriously take into account fuel efficiency considerations? Are there alternatives to driving, ranging from public transportation to carpooling? And, of course, the challenge goes beyond transportation to other uses of oil, including home heating.

For the past thirty-five years, officials in Washington have promised greater energy independence. No doubt, they were sincere in their desire for change. But for one reason or another, the situation got worse, not better.

Today, mindful of the threats to our national security, economy, and environment, we stand as one in pledging that this time around it will be different. No more delays, no more excuses, no more passing the buck.

The future of our nation - and our planet - depend on our getting this one right.

We can, and we will.

Download a copy of "The Missing Speech"