This is a very lively discussion. Thanks to all for sharing their  thoughts.
 
The are a lot of flaws in the US system and they have been  magnified in the 
last 7 years. It seems pretty clear that there are a lot of  folks in the 
current administration who do not care much about anything other  than power and 
control. I also do not believe that the policies of the present  administration 
are in line with the average US  citizen based on polls and conversation with 
average folks. 
 
I attended a talk given by retired General Wesley Clark last Thursday and  it 
was a very sobering look inside the last and the current White  House. Not 
confidence building to be sure. Too many people are in way over  their heads 
making military decisions on things that they don't understand  relative to the 
"War on Terror" and I suppose that same may  well be true for those looking at 
engergy matters.  

That aside, most common people, I believe, want to help relative ot th  
environment but they are uncertain of which way to turn. (There will of  course, 
always be those folks out there who will be most happy to  contribute to the 
reduction in CO2 by having their neighbor give up driving  their car... ;-) 
 
Overcoming inertia, positive or negative, is never easy,  especially when 
expectations have long been established that the next  generation will have it 
better than the last. There is need for a well  thought through strategy for 
shared responsibility and shared  sacrifice but I don't expect it from the 
current administration.
 
Ultimately, I am in sync with notion expressed by Brian and many  others of 
doing what small things I can until to reduce my personal use of  energy until 
some overarching plan can be put together that we can all  salute. I do think 
that education and population control must be a part  of the calculus of any 
far reaching solution.   
 
I don't expect to be alive when it is known for certain if my small  
sacrifices made any practical difference but I don't feel deprived by making  them and 
sleep well at night. 
 
Best
Joe
 
BTW neither Jefferson nor Adams was a saint. Adams was somewhat imperious  in 
his attitude and signed the Alien and Sedition Acts the latter  act making it 
illegal to say anything critical of the president or  Congress. Jefferson 
despised that law and felt the spillage  of blood every now and then was healthy. 
In addition, Jefferson, so it seems,  was also a model for the present 
government in that he spent money way  beyond his means and left a huge debt. (He 
was also a slave  owner) They were both highly literate and very brilliant men 
in their  own way and products of their time but I don't think they would do 
quite so  well today.



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