With so much heated rhetoric in Congress about Health Care, I don’t think the White House will take up any additional major undertakings for a long time, especially global warming. It just is not smart political move.

However, it seems major issues such as Climate Control and Global Warming would need to be taken up by a non-partisan committee or commission, made up of 5 Senators from each party, a la the Base Closing Commission set up in the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act in the late 1980s.

There are too many naysayers spewing uninformed biased comments in the media to quickly or radically change many people’s behavior at this point. Many of those that are against making progress with alternative energy or to combat global warming will continue to bury their heads in the sand and ignore or deny the fact that man is contributing to the greenhouse effect.

I suggest framing the issue as a national security issue–good vs. evil.

As Thomas Friedman in Hot, Flat and Crowded and many others have alluded to, sending petro dollars to Mideast nations goes against our national security interests. Many of the nations where terrorism and jihads against Western cultures are the largest recipients of Western petro dollars.

Keeping that money away from the Mideast will be the greatest single weapon in the war on terror.

Congress needs to stop pandering to lobbyists and self interests and find ways to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. The non-partisan committee or commission will be the best hope as they would have to find ways that are in the best interest of our nation in the long haul to reduce petro dollars flowing outside the US.

Some of their recommendations may include such factors as:

1. increased oil drilling in the US
2. more nuclear plants
3. creation of a new Manhattan Project for alternative energy and transmission ideas
4. stricter laws on pollution, including auto emissions and factories
5. greater alternative energy research and funding
6. hiking up federal funds on gasoline and diesel
7. more tollways to reduce traffic
8. taxes on automobiles based on their fuel consumption
9. mandatory recycling nationwide – both in homes and in offices
10. incentives for waste reduction
11. greater funding for mass transit across the USA

These ideas, though not necessarily popular, will need to be addressed in the coming decade if there is any chance of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Perhaps Fox News can take the lead in framing this issue as a national security issue rather than as a “left-leaning, hippie movement”.

If more people understand the gravity of the issue–both from a global warming issue and as a national security issue, we can actually have bi-partisan support for something that will take actual sacrifice from the American people — but for a greater good–their own security.

Those on the left will appreciate the efforts in combating global warming. Those on the right will approve of the efforts to improve our national security.

Time is running out to get things right. We need to try many things and let the best ones win. As the recent airport terrorist act proved, we need to stop feeding terrorism with our petro dollars–and the sooner, the better.

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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.