Joshua Simmons' guest column on energy policy is a frightening vision for America that is indicative of an increasing divide in the Republican Party, of which I am a member.
His solution to "drill our way out" of energy dependence by tapping into domestic oil reserves, harnessing nuclear power and continuing to let the largest pollution emitters slide with large-scale tax breaks and no caps on emissions is simply a continuation of the Bush administration's dangerous refusal to acknowledge the realities of our energy situation.
According to the Department of Energy, America has the potential to create 20 percent of its energy from wholesale investment in wind power, one of America's greatest unharnessed resources. The transition can't be immediate, but more clean coal can fill the gap far better than ethanol. This is a stance that even Sen. John McCain recognizes.
Let's hope for America's sake that the Republican Party stops ideological dogmatism from getting in the way of common-sense solutions and instead, turns once again to the ingenuity of the American spirit, as Ronald Reagan inspired us to do.
Neil Blackmon
Levin College of Law Alumnus
