Roscoe Bartlett is a true American Hero and Patriot.

It must be a terrible shock to him, as a Republican, to learn that the Invisible Hand has foresaken him.

U.S. Congressman Bartlett has even gone directly to the leader of his party (GWB) to explain "the problem", only to be told that some things are more "urgent" than others and that Peak Oil does not even make the "urgent" list. It is merely "important" but not important enough to be "urgent".

It was an excellent speech. To an empty house of course, which is the problem.

Sitting here in the Midwest becoming involved with Biodiesel and Biooil (from Pyrolysis) it is obvious that we just need to start moving on some of these projects. More people need to be engaged in the pursuit of solutions, not wait for someone else to solve them.

I have no illusions that Biofuels can solve our energy problems. But they will help. Wind can't solve our problem, but it helps. Ditto with solar. All are a piece of the energy production and consumption equation that need to be investigated.

Most importantly we need to conserve energy of all kinds and understand how hard it is to capture and manipulate. My experience is that the people most engaged in finding energy solutions are also the most passionate about conserving energy and using new design to create efficiency.

The American public is crying out for leadership in this area. They would gladly pursue new jobs and approaches if it was presented as a coherent plan for building a new economy and lifestyle where all can participate and potentially excel. This is what is missing in the public forum now. All our leaders demonize the innovators as whacko greenies, self serving farmers, special tax break wind generators, etc. This is all true now because there is no other option for pursuing solutions.

It is is hard to be a leader today. You have to be willing to stand up and put a bullseye on your reputation. It is risky if you aren't confident you are headed in the right direction. You have to be willing to make mistakes, admit to them, and still push for change. Few politicians will do these things. Our president espouses to these characteristics but in my opinion is just stubborn and status quo driven not visionary or leading. And ultimately you have to lead people to a better outcome than where we are today and I see very few of those people running for office today.

Now I have to go back to work and solve some real world problems.