After reading about President Obama's speech last week on reducing oil imports, it was clear that this is becoming a more prominent issue for the Obama administration. Al thought President Obama has in multiple times mentioned his commitment in cutting by a third the amount of barrels of oil a day imported from abroad by 2025, I believe that for this estimation to be a better calculation, there should be stricter regulations, and more commitment, incentives, and concern from the general public about the importance of being less dependent on imported oil.
President Obama proposes achieving the previous goal by producing more domestic oil, increasing energy efficiency and relying on cleaner alternatives. I think these measures are necessary yet I also believe that he is leaving out a key component- public support, commitment, and knowledge about this these changes. Indeed, investing in more high-speed rail and mass transit, in more fuel-efficent trucks and cars, and makaing use our the nation's natural gas reserves will decrease our oil dependency. However, what use is this off if the public is not also actively engage in these shifts. The Obama Administration should not estimate that these changes will just happen smoothly, instead they should also invest in programs that educate the public on alternatives that can save more energy and about the importance of changing out wasteful habits. Also, the funding for these new measures do not sound convincing to me. President Obama mentions that our economic situation is not the best and that leaving these energy shifts for later will just result in higher prices, yet he does not mention how will these be funded right now. For these reasons, I feel that the plan could be more complete if it also implemented an educational program.
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