He rode his bicycle in the Napa Valley on Earth Day, and suddenly, he’s an alternative energy expert instead of part of the oil oligarchy. And, according to the evangelical book of Bush, hydrogen will save our economy. I don't mean to instruct, however, hydrogen is not a clean energy source because it requires energy to separate it from water and/or atmosphere in the first place. So, you need a second (not so clean) energy source to obtain it. What is this sudden grasping at straws? It demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of an alternative energy plan, which at a bare minimum should include the 7 items I list below. Additionally, WE MUST HAVE A FEDERAL INITIATIVE that adds incentives so that businesses and American families will achieve maximum use of all 7 within 10 years.

1. The use of ethanol to replace gasoline, and/or to be used with gasoline. It can be made from corn, sugar cane, and other crops. Brazil has cut its dependence on foreign oil by 45% through the use of ethanol.
2. Hybrid cars on the market now can more than double gas mileage obtained by most American cars today.
3. Rechargeable electric hybrid cars will triple and quadruple gasoline efficiency.
4. Solar energy panels on the rooftops of one quarter of our buildings would reduce dependence on foreign oil by twenty percent.
5. Windmills supply more than 20% of Denmark’s electricity.
6. Hydroelectric power remains a viable alternative energy source, and provides 10% of our current electrical needs.
7. Methane gas obtained from our monstrous trash heaps might provide up to 5% of our energy needs.
8. When the technology and infrastructure that will allow us to use hydrogen can be obtained, it will also become an option to be added to this plan in the future.

Mr. Bush has proposed and initiated a plan to encourage the increased use of atomic energy as part of an alternative energy plan. France now uses atomic energy to supply more than 25% of its energy needs. However, atomic energy has associated risks as we all know. It produces extremely radioactive bi-products that must be stored in radioactive proof storage for many thousands of years. It is also an extremely expensive proposition to bring new nuclear fission plants on line in part because of public resistance. Finally, alternative energy sources by definition are clean sources, and so, atomic fission does not fit.

In conclusion, Mr. Bush’s idea to use hydrogen as an alternative fuel source is not practical in terms of our present technological development and current infrastructure. It is, however, something that should be considered as part of the future of alternative energy development. Instead, ethanol, hybrid cars, rechargeable electric hybrid cars, solar, and wind energy, hydroelectric power, and methane gas are the most feasible technologies available to us right now.