Stopping import of oil from the near-east is vital to stop our export of $ to those countries for the development of weapons and terrorism. This could be done by the development of mass transit, rapid rail, to substitute for the major use of oil in cars, trucks and airplanes. President Obama has wisely budgeted billions to do this, but most Governors (all Republican) have turned the funds down under pressure from the oil industries and these decisions must be reversed, since in addition to the great economic and political benefits significant environmental benefits would accrue as well. The development of alternate electrical energy sources, wind, solar, etc. will NOT due this, since oil is only used to generate about 8% of our power.
Why is this important?
Independance from oil, paritcularly imported oil, is vital for strategic political reasons as well ass environmental reasons and can help to be acieved by mass transport.
