Energy crisis needs focused leadership

As soon as possible, President Bush needs to call a national conference to focus America's attention on the energy problem. There may be no immediate solutions to the problem of high gasoline prices, but this nation needs to start looking for long-range answers and there is no better time to begin than right now.

And, please, Democrats and Republicans, don't let this become a political issue. It's a problem that is way bigger than that. Through the years, this nation has been so tremendously inventive, solving problems that seemed beyond comprehension. I'm talking about such breakthroughs as the atomic bomb, the space race and polio innoculations.

We need the same kind of inventiveness now. The first step is focusing the nation's undivided attention on coming up with ways to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

What pushed me over the top, leading to the call for a national energy conference, was this week's spurt in gas prices. In one day, prices went up 14 cents per gallon in McCook. That pushed prices well above $3 a gallon, a ridiculous amount which is costing Americans billions of dollars more for gas than they were paying a year ago.

The solutions aren't going to be easy. Use of more hybrid vehicles ... converting coal to a liquid fuel source ... further development of ethanol and biofuels ... and electrical powered cars are among the many possibilities.

But we have to get started and we have to get serious. If we don't, we're going to end up squandering the American way of life.

Driving is too important to us to give up. It's the way we get to work. It's the way we transport grain and cattle. It's the way we conduct our business and personal lives. But we need to make changes in the way we power our vehicles.

We need America's best thinkers to point us in the direction of energy independence, and there needs to be the same urgency as there was when the United States was rushing to be world leaders in atomic energy and space exploration.

Let's get started. Let's get started now.