Recently, Dick Cheney was quoted in the Washington Post during a rally in Yakima, Washington as saying, “You have a solar panel on your house, you get tax relief. If you drive a solar-powered car, you get tax relief. That’s goofy.”

The United States is in the middle of an energy crisis. Some experts theorize that during the winter, many citizens will not be able to heat their homes because oil prices will be too high.

This is a direct result of our country’s energy policy. We have continued to rely on our carbon-based economy, which is under the will of OPEC because we simply cannot support our country’s hyper-consumption.

We comprise only 4 percent of the world’s population, yet we consume nearly 75 percent of the earth’s natural resources.

To dismiss long-term solutions such as using solar energy shows me that Cheney has a lack of vision.

Not a lack of economical vision, but a lack of real survival vision. Can you imagine if China were to consume at the same levels at which Americans consume? I can, and let me tell you that it’s a terrifying thought.

I have taken a class in which we calculated the fraction of the space-heating load that can be met through the use of solar energy.

The solar technology we have today can easily allow home-owners in Des Moines to meet at least 75 percent of their space-heating requirements.

But what scares people away is the initial cost of the equipment. Although it can be argued that this is not required because the long-term savings on fuel will outweigh the material costs, the government could help alleviate this initial cost so that we start to consume less electricity and/or gas.

We can lower consumption and still not affect our lives. This is the responsible thing to do, and it makes so much sense.

Our lives are not sustainable, but we are the measuring stick for the rest of the world. The United States cannot afford to continue with the rash generalizations and dismissive remarks toward solar energy, nor can we continue to rely on oil without compromising our livelihood. It is time we put a real visionary in office, not the status quo.

Todd Bandhauer

Graduate Student

Mechanical Engineering