In Eugene, OR, Former CIA Head Woolsey Argues For Move Away From Oil

[hatrack]

EDIT

Woolsey said the solution to America's foreign oil addiction, as President Bush has termed it, needs to meet three standards: It has to be affordable; it has to be available soon; and it has to use the nation's existing infrastructure. That cuts out, for example, the hydrogen-powered vehicles that Bush has called for, Woolsey said, because the infrastructure does not exist already to support delivering hydrogen fuel to cars around the country.

The best solution that fits all three criteria, he said, is to use biofuels, such as soy-based diesel or ethanol made from agricultural products like prairie grass, to power hybrid electric vehicles that could be recharged at night. Woolsey cited the Toyota Prius gasoline-electric hybrid car as an example of a workable solution, assuming a larger battery capacity could be developed. With a six-fold increase in battery capacity, he said, the car could reach 125 miles per gallon for the average commuter, "the equivalent to 50-cents-per-gallon gasoline."

Woolsey dismissed mass transit as a realistic answer to America's foreign oil dependence. "Mass transit is something we could use more of," he said. "But let's face it: This is a big, spread-out country with a vehicle-based economy."

The conference, with scheduled sessions on "Seizure and Arrest Law for Activists" and "Surveillance, Infiltration and Harassment of Environmental Organizations," seemed an unlikely venue to welcome a former top CIA official.

EDIT

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/03/05/c1.cr.woolsey.0305.p1.php?section=cityregion

[phantom power]

1. But let's face it, Mr. Woolsey...

this country may not be spread-out or vehicle-based forever.

[pretzel4gore]

2. ever seen a pic of this guy?

he looks like a central casting call for a 'heartless bureaucratic thug who listens to opera and practises the cold dead fisheye stare ala hannibal lector but w/out any hannibal lector's charisma and charming friendliness'....

[megatherium]

3. Woolsey's first solution to our energy security problem was war in Iraq.

That didn't work out very well.

At least they guy can learn. Indeed, there might be such a thing as redemption. In a twisted, Pulp Fiction sort of way.

[Massacure]

4. Woolsey is wearing rose colored glasses.

Electricity is not measured in gallons, a gallon of gasoline will never yield 125 miles per gallon for a commercial vehicle, and gasoline will never cost 50 cents again.