Officer O'Clancy, take care of this toxic waste.

One of the dreams of those that have spent the last several decades pushing for alternative energy sources is that of breaking our dependence on middle east oil.

An inevitable side effect of the United States leading the search for these alternative energy sources would be a revolution in U.S. industry. Much like the advent of the the automobile green energy would spur the U.S. economy and help the U.S. regain it's slipping lead on innovation and technology.

That's why it's been incredibly frustrating watching this administration spend eight years fighting investment in green energy solutions for purely ideological reasons. In doing so they were hurting the United States. They were making us weaker. (I think about this and a million other examples when Bush administration apologists tell us their greatest accomplishment is "making us safe." They've accomplished exactly the opposite.)

Their inaction doesn't mean some other nation(s) won't take the lead:

Gulf Oil States Seeking a Lead in Clean Energy

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — With one of the highest per capita carbon footprints in the world, these oil-rich emirates would seem an unlikely place for a green revolution.

Gasoline sells for 45 cents a gallon. There is little public transportation and no recycling. Residents drive between air-conditioned apartments and air-conditioned malls, which are lighted 24/7.

Still, the region’s leaders know energy and money, having built their wealth on oil. They understand that oil is a finite resource, vulnerable to competition from new energy sources.

So even as President-elect Barack Obama talks about promoting green jobs as America’s route out of recession, gulf states, including the emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are making a concerted push to become the Silicon Valley of alternative energy.

It is going to cost the United States a lot to catch up to these countries but it is a matter of national security that we do so. We must initiate a green Apollo program, and quickly. It seems like everybody in the world except the GOP dead-enders and their Democratic enablers can see the writing on the wall. Will they act?

I won't hold my breath.