That means adopting a less crude and more creative national energy policy that aims to harness a range of energy sources other than oil. Increasing our national gas supply is one option. While we cannot rely on natural gas exclusively, this relatively clean fuel has become a staple of our energy generation and has the potential to become an even bigger part of our energy stock. The gas is entirely outside the refuge. It can be developed relatively inexpensively and would bring much-needed fuel to US power plants.
New technologies offer the greatest long-term hope.
We must invest boldly in the power potential of renewable and alternative sources of energy such as fuel cells, solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal energy. Finally, we should not only boost our supply and delivery of the traditional and alternative fuel sources but also take aggressive steps to diminish our demand for fossil fuels. We can do so without significantly sacrificing our quality fo life and through relatively simple measures that increase our energy efficiency and conservation. One good idea is to offer tax credits for purchasing hybrid cars, which are already on the market and get 60 to 70 miles per gallon. In fact, if we just set a goal of increasing the efficiency of our automobile fleets by 3 miles per gallon, we would save the same amount of oil over the next 10 years that would be drilled out of the refuge.