America’s dependence on foreign energy is no secret.   

You might have felt it in your wallet over the summer when it cost $60 to fill up your compact car every week.

Maybe that pain went past the pockets after sitting on a train or bus for 14 hours instead of three hours on an airplane because the amount of time you spend uncomfortable is inversely proportional to the cost of transportation.

It could have been that you spent half of your summer in the refrigerator because you were holding off on turning up the air conditioner and, thus, turning up your monthly bill.

Political candidates use the fact that we spend more money on energy than most other countries do combined as daily topic of rhetoric. To them, the solution lies in an unknown American oil field.

Their plans range from the high-commitment investments like offshore drilling and exploring in wildlife reserves, to paying attention to the little things like keeping our tires properly inflated to conserve a little bit at a time.

These options might sound appealing to the majority of Americans who have seen their bank accounts slowly withering away. People don't like to see their hard earned cash literally burn away in the form of fossil fuel so they can drive back to work every day.<br/>But these options only go so far.But these options only go so far.
But these options only go so far.

Taking measures to cut back our personal fuel guzzling has proven to slow the increase of gas prices. Over the summer, prices fell, not nearly as dramatically as they rose, because of Americans’ little steps toward conservation.

We walked or rode bikes to travel those few blocks to the post office. We decided to stay home over the Fourth of July. We turned on fans instead of air conditioning units. We opted for public transportation and we invested in tire gauges.

But it still cost me almost $50 dollars for my last tank of gas, and it takes twice as much gas to get me to work and back now that I live 45 minutes away from my job. And I know I’m not alone.

Offshore exploration might eventually make a dent in fuel costs, but it seems like we would spend as much money exploring as we might save once we found it.

Add that to the risk of polluting our open seas, and it leaves the impression that offshore drilling is a dangerous means to an uncertain end. We have to seriously consider if it’s even worth the trouble if it might not even make a big enough difference.

Every time I hear a major speech from a high interest candidate I hear the same thing: Foreign oil, foreign oil, and we have to end our dependence on foreign oil.

Perhaps our dependence on foreign oil isn’t the issue. Maybe our ending our dependence on foreign oil isn’t the problem we should be solving.

Maybe the solution doesn’t lie in any oil field.

Could it be that we wouldn’t rely on other countries for oil at all if we didn’t so strongly rely on oil?

Instead of focusing our resources on finding our own fuel, we should focus our resources on finding our own energy source.

Instead of relying on a technology that will fail us once it runs out of gas, we should innovate new technologies that we don’t have to import.

Instead of sitting back with our feet up and watching as the rest of the world finds environmentally friendly ways to carry on their lives, we should join them, maybe even lead them.

Let’s stop asking ourselves how to get away from foreign energy and focus on finding a new source of energy.