Here is the Energy Speech John McCain Should Give

ATTN: John McCain Campaign: I've taken the liberty of writing a few brief remarks on the current energy situation that John McCain should deliver in a highly-promoted speech.

You're welcome.

Friends:

I've watched with amazement as my opponent and his party have sought to block every common sense energy initiative that has been promoted by the administration and this campaign. The common refrain is "it won't lower gas prices right away". Whether the discussion is about offshore drilling, nuclear power, drilling in ANWR or on western oil shale lands, the answer is the same. "It won't lower gas prices right away".

Friends, we are paying today for the poor policy decisions that were made 10, 15 - even 30 years ago. There is no short term fix for today's high gas prices, but there are things we can do now to make things better for the generations to come after us. The Democratic Party is always telling us that we need to do things [air quotes] "for the children", and yet whenever we propose energy plans to help our children, the Democrats refuse to act because their will be no immediate gratification. It's an immature way to govern and represents a selfish policy perspective.

Today America uses about 28 million barrels of oil every day, only 8 million of which is produced domestically. Are those numbers due to a lack of American oil? No, it a lack of American drilling. In 1995 Congress sent a bill to President Clinton to begin oil exploration in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge - ANWR. President Clinton vetoed that bill and the excuse given by the Democrats was that drilling in ANWR would not have an immediate benefit to pricing or supply and might take as long as 10 years to begin regular production. Sound familiar?

Just this year another bill was proposed to allow exploration in ANWR and many of the same Democrats who opposed the measure in 1995 made the same complaints about the 2008 bill - it will take 10 years to begin production. Imagine that.

Had President Clinton signed the bill in 1995 for at least the last three years we would have been reaping the benefit to the extent of 1 million barrels a day of American crude. It would have solved all of our imported oil problems, but it certainly wouldn't have hurt. Shortsighted thinking has cost us dearly.

We know there are huge oil reserves off the coast of our nation and in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge - ANWR. It's time to allow American oil companies to go and get it. I've opposed drilling in ANWR in the past, but given the supply crisis we're now facing and the information I've received about how little the impact in ANWR will really be thanks to modern drilling techniques, it no longer makes sense to oppose exploration in these areas.

The good people of South Dakota just approved the construction of the first oil refinery to be built in this country in over 30 years. Demand for refined products has soared, and our capacity has declined. Why is that? Once again we've allowed environmental interests to totally dominate the discussion regarding refineries and production facilities while local governments have done everything they can to block new plants. We have to have a new mindset in this country toward oil. Oil is going to continue to be the fuel of freedom for the forseeable future and it will take the cooperation of all of our citizens to make the best use of it until alternatives are ready for market.

I recently proposed a series of new nuclear power plants to take over the burden of electricity production and remove some of our reliance on oil and coal-fired plants. There hasn't been a nuclear plant built in the United States in over 30 years. Why is that? Because in 1979 Hollywood produced a movie called "The China Syndrome" which attempted, quite successfully, to scare Americans about nuclear power. The left was so paralyzed by what the saw in that fictional film that they've refused to approve any expansion to our nuclear power industry since then.

Folks, it's time to grow up.

The Democrats would have us believe that there have no improvements whatsoever in nuclear power technology in the last 30 years and that every plant is a ticking time bomb. They ignore the reality that dozens of plants are working every moment of every day around the world without a hint of problems. Nuclear power is clean, reliable, uses no fossil fuels, and doesn't emit greenhouse gases. Sure, there are issues related to the storage of spent fuel, but we have a big country and there are places in this country where that nuclear waste can be safely stored. We have to have the will to do it.

My friends, it's time to act with a maturity that is expected of the leaders of the free world. We can no longer afford to play politically correct "gotcha" games and allow anti-American interests to decide our energy future. It's time to drill here, drill now, build the nuclear plants, and aggressively develop alternate fuels and incorporate them when they're economically feasible.

We can do it...if we have the will. I have the will, and we will get the job done for you and those who follow us.

Thank you very much.