Doubling of US Exports Will Require Tripling of Smart Manufacturing Policy

The administration has announced a goal of doubling US exports over the next five years. The program is called the “National Export Initiative (NEI). The goal for the program is to create 2 million new jobs.

As seems to be the practice when discussing US exports, the government actions that hurt exports and created overwhelming imports are not mentioned. Over the last 35 years mismanagement of trade agreements with specific countries and the World Trade Organization sent thousands of US based manufacturing opportunities overseas along with the fruits of American innovation. Once again our elected government representatives failed to protect Americans as they gave away US manufacturing sectors, one by one, to astute countries. Those countries wisely helped their own industries make good use of the gifts. The foreign factories are now built and running, selling us the results of our innovations that are now made in their factories. The receiving countries helped their industries make good use of the transferred technology by ignoring US reciprocal trade treatment.

In the review of the program with Reuters the Secretary of Commerce made statements showing that they do understand the problem.

"Free trade only works in a system of rules where all parties live up to their obligations," Locke said in the prepared text of a speech he gave detailing Obama's National Export Initiative, or NEI.

"The United States is committed to a rules-based trading system where the American people and the Congress can feel confident that when we sign an agreement that gives foreign countries the privilege of free and fair access to our domestic market, we are treated the same."

"The approach that we're taking is trying to get much tougher about enforcement of existing rules, putting constant pressure on China and other countries to open up their markets in reciprocal ways."

It is good to see that we now have a goal and understand the problem. But this is only the start. It is in solving the problem that the challenge lies.

The US got here by blindly accepting the advice of economic specialists who claimed we need not worry about the loss of manufacturing jobs in existing industries because even more new jobs would be created in advanced industries by"innovation.” They failed to understand the effect of the large capital outflows that went to construction of plants in foreign countries and the strong inspirational link between innovation and the technology of manufacturing. It turned out that by shipping manufacturing sectors overseas we were also shipping our innovation infrastructure along with a large portion of the business of our parts suppliers.

Innovation in the US could not make up for the large number of jobs lost under these conditions. We are now also importing advanced technology products built by our newly educated foreign competitors.

This is all explained very well, with confirming statistics, in a webinar by the Association of Manufacturing Technology. AMT is the trade organization for companies which manufacture machines used in manufacturing, such as machine tools. Their members have had a front row seat on how unthinking actions by both political parties have hurt their American customers. If you can, stay with the whole webinar to get an ideal of how our manufacturers are fighting back and want government assistance in critical areas.

So what to do? In 2008 total exports were $1.826 trillion dollars against imports of $2.522 trillion for a resulting annual deficit of $696 billion. Doubling exports with reasonable restraints on new imports would certainly make a dent in the problem. But what more are we going to export? What needs to happen to allow us to recover our previous positions? Excluding devaluation of the dollar there are three other areas to work on:

1 Supercharge our innovation engine

America has been the hands down world leader in product innovation. Innovation has been the driver for our economic leadership. We are still leaders in innovation both through our established companies and from breakthroughs by startup small companies. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Genentech, Dell, are just a few examples of American companies that were either starting up or not existent just 35 years ago. Startups offer specialized expertise, ideas, and the willingness to work unreasonable hours for the idea. We must not let the associated American jobs from these sources slip away. Government should work closely with small and larger manufacturers to develop innovation friendly policies. Special financial incentives for investments in startups that encourage US manufacturing combined with associated basic research are already in place in many sectors but should be greatly expanded.

2 Redo one sided trade agreements and make changes in the World Trade Organization

China, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and Germany are the countries which supply over two thirds of our deficit. They have to be approached with the information that we will not continue the current imbalances. They must become more favorable trading partners for US goods to avoid direct action by the US.

The World Trade Organization is a special case in which we need revisions of many elements which are unfavorable to US trade.

3 Capture a favorable trade balance in emerging markets

Emerging markets are countries experiencing rapid economic growth after previously lagging the advanced countries. China, India, Brazil, Hungary, Poland, and Taiwan are typical of what is called advanced emerging markets. Chile, China, Argentina, and Egypt are typical of secondary markets. Wikipedia has 22 markets listed as “emerging”. These areas are targeted as future leading area for economic growth. The US must gain its proper share of exports to these areas. It will not be easy because these countries want jobs as well as products and we have supplied them with the technology they need to compete..

We have had almost 40 years of destructive behavior from both political parties that fell upon the American citizen. Even now our government is heavily lobbied by former federal officials representing foreign interests. We have a hard row to hoe. One thing for sure, it won’t be fixed by band aid rhetoric and a congress heavily lobbied and influenced by foreign interests. Like our other problems it will only be corrected through citizen anger and very hard work. We desperately need a sincere American- centric cooperative effort by our government and industry. Neither has the ability to succeed alone. The government has the responsibility of setting policies and negotiating agreements that have reasonable economics for manufacturers to produce in the US. The manufacturers have the responsibility to respond intelligently and with appreciation of the advantages of being an American company.

Fix Our Trade Deficit and Manufacturing Situation Now!!

The continuing trade deficit is disgraceful, and an insult to the American worker. Americans want to build and manufacture, not borrow to buy products made by others.

From the early 70’s until now our elected governments and their appointees have mismanaged the US from a global manufacturing powerhouse with a trade surplus to an annual negative balance of over 696 billion dollars in 2008. The American worker hasn’t changed. The American export environment negotiated by our government is different.

We must face the fact that over the last thirty years our elected governments and some large corporations have traded away thousands of opportunities for American to add value to the worlds manufactured items. They did this by following the advice of narrow “experts” who did not understand the pivotal roll manufacturing plays in a nation’s strength. They seemed completely oblivious to the long tern consequences of the trade and financial policies they were promoting. As a result some few individuals have been grossly enriched while the large majority of American citizens, and the nation, have been severely harmed.

Our great nation has been crippled by leadership that damaged our ability to provide the challenging jobs our skilled people deserve. They undermined our position as a prime example of the benefits of a free working democracy.

They did this by committing to conditions of the World Trade Organization, and individual countries which were very unfavorable to US built products. They gave no consideration to the consequences for the US citizen worker. They failed to adhere to the sensible thought that a country of the size of the US should always have the capability to be independent in critical areas. They allowed themselves to be heavily lobbied by foreign and US companies to pass US legislation that favored foreign manufacturing. This all has a disheartening resemblance to failures of the financial sector to show any interest in the good of the US in its disastrous practices.

We need real action with America’s interest placed first. Fixing this entangled mess requires that we renegotiate our trade agreements with several countries and the World Trade Organization to a level of reciprocity between what we give and what we receive. We also must immediately develop a national plan for a guaranteed balancing of our imports versus exports and stand the pain to implement it. It should be easy to resist the nonsense of some who will say a trade deficit is good.

This situation was brought on by both political parties. Many of those responsible are still in power. The same old lobbyist system that brought us here is still in play.

A sincere effort will only be undertaken through the anger of the citizens. Our Founding Fathers anticipated these situations and have given us in the Constitution the required tools—Let’s use them in 2010. A quick and decisive end to the trade deficit and a resurgence of our manufacturing reach must be a sincere component of the program of any candidate who gets your vote.
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If you are interested in a further understanding of the entangled mess we are now in and would like a better understanding of what needs to be changed I recommend the book "Saving Capitalism" by Pat Choate

Once Again Nature Teaches Us Humility

Snow in the Eastern Shenandoah area is supposed to happen just a few times per year, is usually just a covering of a few inches ,and is rarely over 12 inches. It stays just a few days before warm weather returns to chase it away. Sure the old timers talk about the real storms of the past but they are usually associated with the Blue Ridge or Appalachians and taken with a grain of salt. The District of Columbia, that is over 50 miles to the east, has usually been spared even that modest amount. The most talked about snow in DC recent history was January 22, 1961, the day of the Kennedy inaugural. That day DC got a whopping eight inches which created havoc in the inaugural celebration events.

That is why two successive storms over 25 and 30 inches of snow each, combining with winds to whip up towering drifts, were so appalling to us. They essentially imprisoned most of the population around DC for over a week. It was a perfect example of how easily Nature can brush aside mans’ petty agendas and come forth with its own.

As in always true when Nature flexes its muscles its raw power was overwhelming. Our plows, energy reserves, food and heroic physical efforts were temporary barriers and couldn’t compete with the peak level storms. Schools, politics and almost all social functions faced reality and were cancelled and forgotten. Health care reform and the economy were dropped from TV for 24 hour coverage of the storm. We were put in our proper place each night as the bitter cold winds re-drifted the snow, destroying the days hard plowing.

As always, Nature final relented and the struggle slowly turned in our favor. The winds became less ferocious, the snow stopped, the main roads became passable, and the essentials of our society returned. The drifts and mountains of plowed snow remain but are largely out of the way of our critical life systems.

What important bits of knowledge can be gleaned from the experience? There are several:

We are a pretty tough society that fights back hard.

When the scope of the storms was understood a hardworking cooperative meta-organization was immediately formed. This front line defense was shared without hesitation by contractors, government, local volunteers and neighbors.

The commitment of the personnel who formed this line against the storms showed the toughness of the American workers. This includes both those fighting the snow and those restoring power. Many served consecutive 12 hour shifts or longer to work all night in bitter cold moving and blowing snow. A tremendous amount of back road plowing was done by private owners.

The commercial delivery system was also outstanding under very strenuous conditions. Large delivery trucks make it through on very marginal roads. As soon as a route for delivery to a commercial area was configured by the road team the word was spread and the delivery vehicles came through.

It was an excellent job by overextended teams. Another example of how good the American worker can be when challenged. A curse on those idiots that sent so many of their jobs overseas.

Citizen Behavior

Generally good, with the usual exceptions that caused suppressed resentment. The most common was people with the wrong vehicles stuck and blocking roads. Some residents didn’t grasp the need for high road clearance to travel through deep snow. They became stuck and blocked streets that had been previously passable by four wheel drive trucks, jeeps and most SUVs.

Side Events

There was a well deserved shift of wealth to construction operators that put previously underutilized construction equipment into 24 hour operations moving snow.

Many unemployed construction workers earned well deserved good paychecks for the period.

The internet was a priceless local information center for the citizens. You could always get the latest status of a local road or route by queries on the internet.

The storm was especially tough on restaurants, because neither staff nor customers could make it in.

A Philosophical Thought

This once again confirmed that when Nature is in a state of violence the tools of mankind are weak and only allow us to wait it out. We absolutely count on Natures violent excursions lasting only a limited time before returning to a quieter level where we can regain control. That is what happens in almost every clash of civilization with violent Nature, be it earthquakes, thunderstorms, volcanoes, hurricanes or flash floods. As expected, this is what happened in our record snow storm of 2010.

As powerful as it is, however, the damage done to mankind by Nature is small in comparison to that which man inflicts on himself through wars and stupidity. (Possible future cosmic events not considered)

Deep Snow and Howling Winds Make Hardening of Electrical Distribution Systems a Priority

The hundreds of thousands of people who lost power in the recent storms leads me to question the cost to benefit analysis that always seem to leave our electrical distribution systems so vulnerable to weather. Power failure is by far the major cause of hardship and suffering by customers in severe weather. Because of this billions are continually spent on emergency restoration of power.

The electric companies work endlessly to restore power. Their literature is filled with advice to homeowners who lose power. But discussions to the public on programs to reduce the magnitude of the emergencies in the first place are rare. Each severe weather event seems to come with a list of thousands to hundreds of thousands of customers who have lost power. The same old story is told of how the electrical companies are working day and night to restore it.

The techniques available for hardening are well known. They include moving especially vulnerable lines underground, strengthening of lines and poles to support additional ice and wind loads, better connectors, and more attention to tree trimming to provide isolation from tree branches.

Electrical distribution systems are complex and expensive. The payback of hardening is in reduced costs to restore damaged systems on an emergency basis and the tremendous benefits to the customers who are spared days of powerless living. After studying a few of the upgrade proposals which are public and online I find that in true capitalist fashion the value of hardening is often understated when subject to cost analysis. It is hard to place a dollar value on the benefits to the customers even though they are substantial. Reduction in emergency repair costs alone does not seem to pay for an extensive upgrade in most cases.

Here as an example of the give and take which occurs is the presentation made by Oklahoma Gas and Electric to the Utility Board asking for a rate increase to pay for their hardening plan. Notice the importance and expense of vegetation management.

Because the number of failed power events is dependent upon both the hardening and the applied stress simple comparisons between utilities are not always appropriate but could serve as a starting point. Statistics on the long term performance of hardened versus standard systems do not appear to readily available.

This is just one of many examples where the needs of the people are not given adequate consideration. There is work to be done and people who want to do the work. Why can’t our system put the two together?

Imported Goods Dull the Effectiveness of the Fiscal Incentive Package

Arguments continue on the effectiveness for job creation of the fiscal incentive package. There is no doubt, however, that it would be much more effective if the US was manufacturing a higher percentage of the goods consumed by Americans.

The job intensive part of the program is lost to the country when the stimulus leads to the purchase of goods manufactured outside of the United States.

To illustrate this effect, suppose first that the incentive package entices the citizen to spend on a product manufactured in the United States. The retailer takes the money to pay operating and fixed costs, pay the wholesaler to restock the item, and make a small profit. The wholesaler accumulates its regional orders for the item and places a factory order. So far only some sales and administrative labor has gone into the economy. It is when the order is received by the manufacturer that the benefit of serious job creation starts. The factory places the replacement order into its production schedule and commits to the plant labor to produce the required number of items. The multiplier effect starts as the manufacturer places orders to its suppliers for the required raw materials and sub assemblies. The economic engine starts up and begins to create some real US labor value add.

In the case where the item is not manufactured domestically the wholesaler or importer places the order to a foreign manufacturer and any further value added goes to another country. Not surprisingly, there are not many jobs created in the United States. The trade deficit grows and the chance for the American worker to add value is missed.

There are some “expert” economists who say that a trade deficit is good and doesn’t significantly affect manufacturing employment. (Some were advisors to Bush!!) To counter this the Enterprise Policy Institute (EPI) in 2004 published a detailed analysis of the contribution of the trade deficit to unemployment in manufacturing. It concluded that in contradiction to those “experts”, the trade deficit was an important contributor toward jobs lost in manufacturing, accounting for 59% of the loss since 1998. The other contributor to unemployment was the productivity increase of the American worker.

EPI examined the percent of US production in relation to the total demand for production goods in the US. It is very telling. In 1991 94.7% of the total product demand for the USA was made domestically. It dropped to 76.5% by 2003. 1991 was a time of almost full employment. They stated that if we could return to our previous position of around 90%, millions of jobs would be created. Another interesting fact is that the US had a trade surplus until 1971.

There are some who say that our service business will make up for our loss in manufacturing. In 2008 we had a service surplus of $144 billion. Our negative manufacturing trade was $840 billion. That is a long way to go and very unlikely.

President Obama has set a target to double the US exports. It will be impossible to do this without the increased value add of manufacturing. If it were done, however, it would result in millions of American jobs and return us to economic strength we once knew before the damaging actions of the past. It will take drastic action to reverse the decades of bad decisions. It must be done.

Our current approach just isn’t working for the American people. China, Germany, Japan and every country with a strong export record is implementing a strategic plan to support their critical manufacturing sectors. These plans address innovation, trade, tax, and educational issues. They are eating both our lunch and dinner in manufacturing while we turn our focus on finance. Where is our integrated plan? It is necessary if we are to compete in a capitalist global economy!!!

Watch out 28% Democrat and 24% Republican Blocs, Here Comes the 42% Independent Steamroller!

The Massachusetts win by Scott Brown was a victory for independent voters, not the Republican Party. It was a big loss for Democratic Party politics but in no way an endorsement of the Republican Party. An insightful analysis of the voting was made by the Christian Science Monitor.

The voters were simply sick and tired of the screw-ups and ridiculous inability to govern shown by both parties. They voted for an individual candidate in defiance of party politics. This is strong evidence that the exclusive two party system is losing control. This bodes nothing but good for the nation.

It is good because the first task in rebuilding our sickened system is a massive injection of honesty and dedication into Congress. This depends on the success of two actions:

1. We continue to grow an informed and thoughtful bloc of voters who think independently of the two party system.
2. The two party system loses its almost exclusive power to govern the election process

Independent voters with no allegiance to either party will tend to support honest candidates who support the common good regardless of party affiliation. These voters will also be more aware and less tolerant of purposeful misinformation. Lies and misinformation are an inherent part of the current election process. This need not be the case. Legitimate election points and counterpoints can be made with truth. Parties that routinely incorporate half truths and outright lies in their campaign cannot be trusted with public office. Money spent on misinformation should be a negative marker to its own cause.

Political parties were not mentioned in the Constitution, and the concept was frowned upon by most of the Founding Fathers. Jefferson and Washington were especially adamant that political parties would be harmful to the nation. Loyalties develop for the party over those for the country. The parties limit creative thought, encouraging “party think” in its place. They limit the quality and quantity of candidates who are presented to the voters.

Neither party is tapping into the vast talent pool of the country. The selection process must be opened to more and better qualified people to become candidates. This will not happen as long as almost all seats in Congress are held by loyal party members.

Perhaps the system performance has finally reached the “tipping point” level of embarrassing incompetence and corruption. The Massachusetts election is an encouraging indication that the citizen has finally turned disgust into votes.

The Founders gave us a Constitution that allows the citizens to correct the government through elections. Unfortunately as it now stands those very elections are strongly influenced by those we hope to correct. This will require extra diligence. Our votes are extremely valuable. We must use them carefully and wisely. We desperately need a congress of citizen-legislators who will focus on the nation’s problems rather than a political party. This should be an important consideration before you give them your vote

The Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee: A Possible First Step

On November 6, 2009 we made a post detailing how almost all citizens feel completely betrayed by both government and private institutions. They see that the government is acting for special interests, not the public good as required by the constitution. To restore our nation we stated that:

The citizens require a strong program that will absolutely guarantee that the psychology and ethics that led to the betrayal is completely disgraced and placed outside the American system forever. It is critical that those in the entities who were responsible for the meltdown are publically identified and punished. There must be significant retribution with large sums recovered for the people who innocently suffered. The public consequences to those that caused the situation must be adequate to prevent any thoughts of ever returning to similar behavior.

The banks however have been operating under the assumption that their only obligation toward the citizens suffering from the economic meltdown they caused is to repay the TARP funds at some point. They expected no further consequences for the misery they have caused the nation. They are reporting large profits and intend to reward themselves with record bonuses-while the rest of the nation suffers.

The announcement by the administration of its intention to impose a Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee* on banks with over 50 billion dollars in assets is the first credible indication that the necessary consequences may be coming. It could mean that the cozy financial sector/government relationship is starting to unravel under the relentless anger of the US citizens. Of course the 90 billion dollars expected to be recovered in 10 years is minuscule compared to the damage done to the nation. But at least it initiates a principle of collecting consequential damages that should deter future similar behavior. Watching how congressmen react to this bill will be a real marker for those who must be replaced.

As currently described the bill will only apply to banks with over fifty billion in assets and will be structured so that there will be a strong incentive to pay the fee from the planned excessive bonus pool. This will protect the smaller banks and prevent the large banks from simply passing the fee through to its customers. It is indeed meant to have the large banks who acted against the public good suffer additional consequences.

The drumbeat of the bank lobbyists against the bill is already underway. There will be a very aggressive effort to have it either killed or weakened with loopholes. Hopefully this will not end as a Republican versus Democrat issue. We must follow the life cycle closely and be sure that our congressman and senators understand that regardless of their party affiliation you expect them to act in the public good. Follow their statements and votes very closely. Its will be a good warm-up for the many battles we have yet to fight.

The Big Question: How Much Incompetence Can a Great Nation Stand Before it Becomes Not Great?

Is the US running out of runway?

The previous decades have been characterized by incompetence from our elected government and private sectors that have eaten up large amounts of runway.

•Emergence of the financial sector as the nations policy leader
•Failure to develop a reasonable integrated energy plan for independence from enemies
•Disastrous trade policies that seem designed to weaken America manufacturing
•A misdirection of effort on climate change
•Ill thought out wars
•Major public policy being controlled by gullible uneducated media, alarmist environmentalists, and special interests

This has resulted in:

• A global recession
• Millions of Americans losing jobs and homes while being forced into government assistance
• Thousands of our young dying in those ill thought out wars
• A complete loss of faith by the people in both their government and private institutions
• Disastrous trade balances
• Gigantic misallocations of resources

There just isn’t much runway left!

All this has happened on our watch. To avoid the terrible disgrace of destroying a great country we must turn it around.

So what weapons do we have?

• A population with a continuing love of country and respect for freedom
• Intelligence.
• Tools our founders gave us to change the elected government.

If we use them wisely they should be enough. Let us begin by accepting certain high level truths and targets for correction:

1 First, we must acknowledge that the two party system we now have is corrupt and is failing us. There is nothing in the constitution about political parties. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were among the founders who were outspoken against them. Their fear being that people would develop loyalties for their party that would override their loyalty to the country. We have seen this come true in spades! The two national parties focus on sustaining their own standing. They have passed laws that purposely limit citizen choice. Their sole control of the election process must be broken and the process re-opened to the citizens.
2. The financial sector must be placed in its proper role as a simple service to the producing sectors of the economy-not its current commanding position of control. Its current consumption of the wealth created by the country is completely out of line.
3. The government is not able to adequately manage the large sums of money being spent on major R&D projects. Climategate is but one example. The citizens must have a better view of these expenditures. The country has thousands of experienced engineers, scientists and tradesmen working in the private sector or retired who would provide an independent view as a public service-possibly organized by the professional societies. This would be an important step for the citizens to regain control of the country finances and allocation of resources.
4. The availability of education opportunities to the citizens must be greatly expanded to match the increasing need for an informed electorate.
5. The media should be distinguished for providing, facts, education, and free discussion by the public. The ownership and control of media assets by only a few corporations is not desirable.
6. The Founders went to great effort to protect the individual citizen against infringement by the government. They are well stated in the Bill of Rights. We must reaffirm these protections in all our actions.

This is just a beginning list and shows how far we have to go. Once again, can we trust the current elected government to initiate these and other steps? If not, the Founders built in the ability to replace the House in two years and the entire Senate in six.

We have to keep this great country great!

With Global Cap &Trade and Climate Change in Free Fall Where is USA Energy Plan B?

In accordance with its standard policy of minimizing the useful information it provides to the public the mainstream media has only discussed two choices for a US energy program.

1.Lead the world in an economy killing global cap and trade system to control CO2
2.Allow civilization to be destroyed by CO2 caused climate change.

In spite of our elected government’s record for bad decisions, surely climate gate and the general impracticality of an energy policy based totally on the global control of CO2 will prevent the first option. The second is not worth discussing. But where is the plan for a third option that presents an environmentally sustainable and balanced energy plan free from the noise of global CO2 control? A plan that is directed to what is best for the USA?
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We need an integrated energy plan that uses all of the technologies in their best applications and is based on quality engineering, science and economics. It must be created for the general good of the US citizens and not the result of public relations and lobbying by special interests.

After over thirty years and untold billions you would think that the Department of Energy could pull a copy of a plan like that right out of the files. They might make a few adjustments to reflect the increased domestic reserves of natural gas before publishing it widely for Congress and the public to judge. It should be open and well explained so the public can judge how intelligently their congressmen are addressing the problem. It will be a base case for risk/benefit analysis against which the demands of global CO2 control advocates could be publically judged.

Sadly, this is a fantasy. The intimidation of the media and political system by the climate change alarmists has been so complete that they could politically stop any such plan from being developed. This is another example of just how blundering these institutions are as guardians for the public good. However, climate gate has finally opened the subject for objective analysis and correction. Can we count on either institution to correct the errors of their ways and lead? Sadly again, that is fantasy B.

We must somehow change this situation.

Climategate and Climate Change: We Urgently Need an Energy Plan That is Not Deferential to the Climate Change Agenda

By making solutions to known energy problems submissive to an unattainable global CO2 agenda we have created a terrible misapplication of valuable time and technical resources.

Climategate highlights the lack of engineering and science basics in our private, political, and government leadership that allows glaring errors to happen. It is bad that climate change activists broke rules of science to mislead us. The larger disgrace is that we are just discovering the deception and impracticality of a CO2 control focus after spending billions of dollars and wasting years of valuable time. The various review committees responsible for overview on the program failed us.

In retrospect, giving climate change alarmists the popular lead on energy policy was preordained to fail. The climate change support came from academics in a soft and immature science, advising government and political leaders who were largely attorneys. financial specialists and economists. Add to this a cheering section made up of an undereducated press, Wall Street licking its chops to be brokering carbon credits, and emotionally driven environmentalists. It seems inevitable that such a lineup would come up with an impractical program that lacked good engineering and science.

The country has the technology and innovative spirit right now to support an environmentally sound energy plan. A knowledgeable and objective leadership could at this stage initiate a plan that would return us to world industrial leadership. The engineering, hard science, and willing workers are available. The technologies are at a ready state to be engineered for national application.

Unlike climate change research, energy technology has a backbone of traditional engineering and hard science combined with practical experience. New technology has given us vast reserves of natural gas. We are the world leader in agriculture and biotechnology. The country has the land resources for wind, solar, and biofuels from numerous sources while our biotechnology is increasing both the food and fuel supply. Nuclear electrical technology has been on standby in the US for over 25 years for no legitimate reason.

With these vast resources, why in the world are we not moving forward with a solid energy plan supported by the entire nation? The enemies are internal.

A major reason is the lobbying and public relation efforts by many oil and coal companies who have outdone climate gate with half truths and misleading data. There is also plenty of evidence that Congress is in the control of lobbying by those corporations that are highly vested in the current system, no matter how it harms the nation Finally, we have fallen for the fantasy requirement to control CO2 on an emergency basis.

Where is the knowledgeable and objective national leadership that will sort out the lies and exaggerations that are coming from dishonest sources? We disparately need a community that can put together a level-headed energy package for the nation. A plan that will really be for the common good.

I suggest that the professional engineering and science societies are the only candidates. They must rise to put partisan politics aside. They are qualified and generally free from special interests. The could organize the independent and objective technical guidance the national leadership so desperately needs. An important part of this contribution would be to honestly educate the general public so they could make informed decisions.

Your members have the knowledge. Let them be heard!