One of the silliest arguments I hear today is Democrats saying that drilling for oil is not the solution to our expensive energy situation because "it will take ten years for any oil to be obtained." (Brazil just made a major oil find off of their coast and they expect to have the oil to market in 18 months: I believe we could do as well if we wanted to.) The Democrats solution is to start working harder on development of "green" energy. The idea that the Democrat's approach will yield results in less time than drilling for more oil is ludicrous, and it seems to me that most people can recognize that. We started working on "green" energy back during the Carter Administration, and have had only limited success over the past 30 years. Most of the "green" energy systems that I am aware of cost more than oil, even at $140 per barrel. Working on alternative energy systems is a good idea, since the world will have to transfer away from fossil fuel over the next 100 to 200 years. We will need coal, oil, and natural gas while we make the transition. We have a huge investment in the current fossil fuel infrastructure, and Democrats act as though we can just suddenly abandon that investment and simultaneously make an even larger investment in "green" infrastructure. Any economist knows that will have a terrible effect on the standard of living in the US since the green energy will be more expensive than the current system. Usually when a new technology supersedes an old technology the new one is less expensive or more productive. The Democrats position on this astonishes me. I don't see how their position is a winner, even against the inept McCain campaign.