America Must Invest in Energy Efficiency In recent years our country has had many debates about what needs to be done to reduce the amount of oil it consumes. It is well known that we need to make some kind of change to help not only the environment, but also to reduce our dependence on imported oil. President Bush recently announced his new plan that could one day greatly reduce the amount of oil Americans use by replacing oil with hydrogen fuel cells. While this plan is a step in the right direction, it is not the answer. There are too many negatives that could actually harm our country in the long run. One problem is that Bush's proposed plan will take too long to see any changes. This is a big deal because a previous plan showed very promising signs for near-term success. A second problem is that the President's funding is not going to the right area of ​​hydrogen fuel cell research; it is funding methods that are not reasonable. If you look closely at the new hydrogen fuel cell project, it actually uses oil that could be sidelined. I believe that Bush's plan to fund fuel cell research will not solve many of our country's current oil problems because it could be more efficient and have more immediate effects. While Bush's plan could one day make a huge difference in the amount of oil used in the United States there is no way of knowing when changes will be seen. I believe that something needs to be done to change our oil consumption as soon as possible. If President Clinton's plan continues to be funded, a major change will be seen very soon. His idea wasn't to completely eliminate the use of oil by cars, but to decrease the amount of... half the paper... that's the answer to our short-term oil problems, but it's not a long-term thing. final solution. That's why I think we need to spend some money on hydrogen fuel cells. If we split the money between the two forms of research, we would help the United States now and in the future. We also need to fund the right areas of hydrogen fuel cell research. To me it doesn't make sense to fund something when there is a better way to do it. It appears that Bush is simply protecting the oil companies; must learn to look beyond and see the big picture. America needs a big change when it comes to oil consumption, and Bush has the opportunity to make big changes if he spends the money correctly. I believe that the intentions of Bush's new plan are good because he wants to make a change, but I believe that his ideas need to be reviewed before they are put into practice.