As a nation we are gleefully following what appears to be neo-con plans for our country - increase our dependence on oil, use it up, drill wherever we can find it when we run out, and attack other countries to feed our greedy SUVs. We are so sad; but Bush did get a mandate when our compatriots elected his Republican Congress; we've earned it.

The way to solve this is to quit bitchin and promote the use of hybrid vehicles - Ford will have a hybrid SUV this fall and Chrysler will have a contractors truck - which it also plans to sell to the military. It would be a perfect platform for the Avenger divisional air defence system.

With the tax credit wind is cost competive with coal. Push it. Once turbine size reaches 3 or 5 MW even the subsidy won't be required.

For demand metered commercial buildings with air conditioning loads solar cells may be cost effective due to avoided peak load costs.

In fact a low cost way to support the solar industry is to buy solar garden lights. Every little bit helps.

The drug war proves that you cannot stop profitable commerce. Pushing profitable commerce is an easy win. Progressives ought to take more of those. We must focus on what can be done instead of trying to do every thing we would like. Whatever happened to small is beautiful?

Can we actually be progressive without government help?

The world will not be getting off it's oil diet any time soon. That is a fact of life beyond Bush's control. Even China is getting off coal and moving to oil and natural gas.

Cost effective hydrogen vehicles are twenty to thirty years in the future.

The best thing we can do for the forseeable future is to go hybrid to reduce the rate of increase in oil use and to get more bang for the buck. The problem is not oil. There is plenty. The problem is cost of extraction - environmental as well as economic.

The hybrid is also a good transition vehicle as the infrastructure needed to support it is in many ways similar to that needed for a hydrogen vehicle - batteries, electric motors, power electronics, motor controllers etc.

Another technology that needs pushing is the combined cycle fuel cell/turbine plant. It can turn an astounding 80% of the fuel into electricity.

We also need super flywheel storage. Right now at certain timers and places electricity cost on the grid is zero. That is right - for those that are part of the minute by minute electrical market the cost is zero. With a sufficiently sized flywheel storage unit this "free" electricity could be sold back to the grid later in the day at a profit not to mention delaying the need to add aditional grid capacity. Did I mention lowering the peak cost of electricity?

There are all kinds of market opportunities to move things in the direction we want if we just stopped thinking that men with guns (the government) are the answer to anything let alone everything. Running to government is a habit of weakness of thought. Progressives ought to get over it. If progressive ideas can't stand without putting a gun to people's heads then they are not progressive.

Government is not progressive it is coercive. Mao knew that. George Washington knew that. It is time the progressives in America knew that.