In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed into law the National Security act of 1947, subjecting to classification all energy conversion technology – not just nuclear technology, and created the Central Intelligence Agency. Since tat time, much of our most advanced technology has been done in secrecy. Today, the National Debt stands at over 8.38 Trillion Dollars and increases daily by 2.06 Billion Dollars. At this rate we face insolvency by November 1, 2006. The debt limit is set at 9 Trillion Dollars, and according to members of the Senate, "This is absolutely the last time we will raise the debt ceiling."
What does the National Debt have to do with new energy? Quite a bit! New energy technology will cost money. As Roger Williams said, "You can’t get to heaven on roller skates."
The truth is – we already have the answer to the energy crisis. We wouldn’t spend billions on advanced research without learning something about new forms of energy. This information is unfortunately classified in the national interest.
In 1947, the world after WWII was a dangerous place and we had enemies that would use such technology to attack us. Unfortunately, little has changed. The world is still a dangerous place. That is except for several important points – the oil crunch, the debt, and global warming. We are now looking at the bottom of the pickle barrel. Although this law may have been well intended, and served our interests at the time, it may be time to reconsider.
With rising energy costs and tensions around the world related to the reliability of affordable energy, $5.00 gasoline and $400.00 a month electric bills are not a far stretch of the imagination. Isn’t it time that we looked into the top secret vaults and decided which classified documents could now be made public that could help us with our energy problems?
It is certain that if we will do this we will find answers to the energy crisis that can be used now. The President is the only person in Washington with the authority to decide which classified documents can be made public. So, our energy future is up to President Bush.
Many of you have read the article on this site, "Instructions for Building a Quantum Dynamo". Well, this is not a new idea. We have known about this for years. The President tells us, "There is no silver bullet." Perhaps not, just silver bull. We are still using one hundred year old technology and loving it, all because of national security.
The news is, national security presently does not exist. The only way we can be secure is to make friends around the world, stop being hypocrites, and help them with their energy problems – help them develop new industries, and new forms of energy.
Criticism can be both positive and negative. Constructive criticism is always best. We need the oil companies right now for the sake of the economy and jobs. The energy industry accounts for 40% of the economy if you count industries that support them also. However, the time is right to build new industries.
We can begin as President Bill Clinton proposed: to build bridges and roads with glass. These structures would last five times as long saving maintenance costs an shut down time, but only if we solve the energy crisis now and develop the technologies we will need now to succeed in the global market.
To pay down the debt and secure our future, our government needs to become a business. We need to develop new technology, license this technology, and collect a percentage of the profits from the industries that would use the technology. These profits could be reinvested into the economy through public services and public works.
We can soon build an industry from the ground up called "Micro Machine Technology". The quantum dynamo could be miniaturized and employed as the power source of micro machines.
Our opportunities are vast and the time is right. In the court of public opinion, our leaders will not be judged by what they have done, but by what they failed to do.
We will be better off when we learn to work together.
A commentary by Ralph Randolph Sawyer
