Let’s start off with what I admire about the USA. I remember my native Italian and proud American citizen, Mom’s words: “You can come from anywhere in the world (immigrants) and from any set of circumstances, but with determination, a good education and hard work, you have a real chance in the U.S to prosper while being respected due to your own merits.

My Mom was convinced that the U.S. Military’s success during WWII was the ability of their soldiers to take over command when an assigned leader was injured or killed. This agility, bravery and resourcefulness of everyone at all levels of society was a quality, envied by the rest of the world.

We have a lot to be proud of with our greatest asset being the U.S. diverse peoples whose voices are about to be heard in the upcoming November 2016 presidential elections, but like in any organization, if you don’t successfully adjust to changing global circumstances, you will be left behind when competing on the world’s stage.

I wish that this year’s slogan were something like, “UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.” As per Wikipedia, “In 1858, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech centered on the House divided analogy to illustrate the need for a universal decision on slavery across all states.”

“The first attributed use in modern times is to Founding Father John Dickinson in his pre-revolutionary War song, “The Liberty Song,” first published in the Boston Gazette in July 1768. In the song Dickinson wrote: “Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!” 

Another rallying cry could be something along the lines: “Get Out And Vote, Stand For Something!”

I want us to move victoriously in the future while learning from our past mistakes. The following is my FIRST POLICY WISH.

My goal for the U.S. would be for us to become energy independent from foreign fossil fuel products with a major focus on increasing the usage of alternate  environmentally friendly solutions. This policy addresses for me, the number ONE national security issue as well as putting us in a leadership role of becoming an example for other countries to follow. This stance would have the added benefits of us being trailblazers again in technology advancements, creating new businesses and jobs to meet demand while assisting current energy related companies to refocus on research and development for alternate, non polluting sources of energy. While I am a believer in the science of climate change, I am primarily concerned about us acting in our own national security best interests.

The 4/3/14 BBC News article, “How American energy independence could change the world,” by Richard Anderson reflects my own thinking on this issue. Here are some excerpts:

“The holy grail of American leaders over the past four decades, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, has been energy independence, and thanks to shale oil and gas, the dream could soon become reality.”

“The International Energy Agency (IEA) and oil giant BP certainly think so – they believe the US will be energy independent by 2035.”

“As Mr Obama said in his State of the Union address last year (early 2013): “After years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own energy future.”

“No-one is suggesting America will stop importing power overnight, but being largely self-sufficient in energy could have widespread implications not just for the US, but for the rest of the world.”

“Last year, the United States spent about $300bn (£180bn) on importing oil. This represented almost two-thirds of the country’s entire annual trade deficit. Oil imports are, therefore, sucking hundreds of billions of dollars a year out of the US economy.”

“As the IEA says, a persistent trade deficit can act as a drag on economic growth, manufacturing and employment.”

“If the US achieved energy independence, not only would the country spend far less on cheaper, domestically generated power, but the money would be going primarily to US-owned energy producers.”

“The US’s oil import bill also constitutes about 2% of the country’s annual economic growth. As the US economy averages about 2% growth a year, the country would, in effect, be getting a year’s growth for free.”

“Paul Dales, at Capital Economics, argues that as this would be spread out over the next 10-20 years, the annual benefits would be much smaller – in this instance, 0.2%-0.1%.”

US manufacturing

“Energy independence will come about only through cheap and abundant shale oil and gas, which could help spark a golden age for US manufacturing.”(Emphasis being on clean energy resources.)

“US energy prices are far lower than those in Europe and Japan, and this fact – together with rising wages in China and the increasing productivity of US factories – means a number of US firms are looking to bring production back home – known as reshoring.”

“Several companies, including Dow Chemical, General Electric, Ford and Caterpillar, have announced hundreds of millions of dollars of investment, either in new plants or in re-opening shutdown facilities. Even Apple has announced a new factory in Arizona more than a decade after closing its last US plant.”

“In fact, between 2010 and the end of March 2013, almost 100 chemical industry projects valued at around $72bn were announced, according to the American Chemistry Council.”

“Indeed a study by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that one million manufacturing jobs could be created by 2025 thanks to low energy prices and demand from the shale gas industry. Further analysis by the Boston Consulting Group points to a surge in US exports of manufactured goods.”

“Any boost in production to US manufacturing would obviously lift overall economic growth even further. In fact, the benefits are already being felt – many economists point to cheaper energy as one reason why the US has outperformed in recent years.”

RELATED ARTICLES:

How American energy independence could change the world – BBC.com  http://www.bbc.com/news/business BBC Apr 3, 2014 – The International Energy Agency expects the US to become energy independent in … has been energy independence, and thanks to shale oil and gas, the dream …. Remember that shale oil and gas are finite fossil fuels.

U.S. could be energy independent within four years – Apr. 15, 2015 money.cnn.com/2015/04/15/investing/us–energy–independence/ CNNMoneyApr 15, 2015 – The boom in U.S. oil and natural gas production could mean U.S. will export more energy than it imports as soon as 2019.

(PDF) What Are the Chances the United States Becomes Energy Independent?http://www.international-economy.com/ EnergyIndependence Symp.pdf cannot become energy independent even under the best of circumstances. Yet others … replace power generated by fossil fuels with renewables. … United States will be a major player in global oil and gas markets. …