To commit ourselves

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.”—John F. Kennedy, 1961.

We totally dedicated ourselves to the development of the atom bomb and entering the moon race, so why can’t we challenge our government to once again be inspired, not because it is easy, but because it is hard, to draft a national commitment to solve our energy crisis?

We need to educate all Americans about the perils of greenhouse-gas omissions and invest our money into a new cause—that of pollution-free energy.

We don’t need any more nuclear power plants or coal-generated energy, nor do we need the newly designed gas-guzzling muscle Corvette parading a 495-horsepower engine costing $60,000. With this attitude from our great CEOs at General Motors, which aimed for less than 1 percent of the car market, we will never get out of the Middle East trap.

We need a new mindset, a reawakening to produce autos, trucks, houses, and industry that will be environmentally friendly. Foreign oil countries have already cost us over $1 trillion and destroyed many more American lives than died in 9/11 or those heroes that were sacrificed for our moon mission.

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to become energyindependent before this decade is out, using solar, wind, alcohol, and hydrogen to produce clean power to run all aspects of our great nation.” What new president will confirm that statement? That is the person I will vote for.

TOM KNIGHT

Little Rock