The turmoil in the Middle East is playing havoc with oil prices and Americans are paying the price at the pump. I just found out today that the airlines are imposing a $500 round-trip fuel surcharge, which will affect my upcoming trip to Argentina and Uruguay. Expect airlines to jack up prices even more thanks to instability in oil-rich countries like Libya.
So what is our oil-addicted country to do?
Maybe more states could follow Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley's lead by proposing to build offshore wind farms.
Or we could follow Spain's lead by lowering the speed limit.
Or how about following car-centric Los Angeles by promoting bicycling? On Tuesday the city approved a bike plan that will eventually add some 1,680 miles of interconnected bikeways.
Maybe we could encourage riding the bus as an ideal alternative to driving by implementing some of these innovative bus stop designs that make waiting for the bus more appealing.
Or we could look towards Sweden and harvest body heat to warm buildings. Engineers have found a way to harness the body heat from travelers at Stockholm Central Station to heat an office across the street, lowering that building's energy bill by 25%.
But don't forget about Virginia. The state recently built its first LEED Gold Hotel -- The Mason Inn and Conference Center on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University. What a great way to save energy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil!
Those are just a select few ideas for how we can come together to break our addiction to foreign oil once and for all. What sort of ideas do you have for American energy security? Now is the time to think big.
Open up our resources at home. This will both put oil in to economy lowering the intl cost (forcing arabs to lower overall oil costs), create american jobs, and put money into an ailing american economy allowing for tax reductions.
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