Weaning America off its imported oil addiction is generally considered to be high on the list of national energy goals. No one doubts the importance of pursuing this goal but there is substantial disagreement about how it can realistically be achieved.

One of the more popular ideas is to develop renewable energy technologies to substitute for oil. Solar, wind, biomass etc. are all admirable technologies but are generally more expensive to implement than traditional fossil fuels. The day for significant use of renewable energy will no doubt arrive eventually but it will take years of time and copious amounts of money.

Currently 60% of the oil we use in the United States is imported, most from countries that are unfriendly to the US. Transportation consumes 70% of the oil we use in America. Therefore the quickest way to reduce overall oil consumption is to find substitutes for the enormous amounts of imported oil that are dedicated to transportation.

The most immediate way to cut our oil dependence is to substitute the use of natural gas for vehicle fuel for petroleum. With the new technology of producing domestic natural gas from shale deposits, America now finds itself with greater stores of natural gas than Saudi Arabia has of oil. Natural gas as a vehicle fuel is plentiful, burns cleaner and is approximately one half the price of gasoline – so why are there not more Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV’s)?

The primary impediment to the use of NGV’s is the absence of a refueling infrastructure and the cost of converting vehicles to burn natural gas. Both of these issues will be overcome with time, but the benefits of NGV’s can be achieved much more quickly with strategic economic incentives. There is currently pending in Congress a bill that will accomplish just that. It is S. 1863 and is entitled the NAT GAS ACT. This bill will facilitate the establishment of a CNG refueling infrastructure and will be financed with a special surcharge added to natural gas when used as a vehicle fuel. This bill will NOT ADD A PENNY to the deficit.

NGV advocates—including energy expert T. Boone Pickens—are hopeful that this bill will be passed by the Senate and, ultimately, become law, therefore accelerating the demand for NGVs throughout the United States.

“This is a great opportunity to end four decades of unfulfilled promises by our elected leaders to end America’s dependence on foreign oil,” Pickens said in a statement applauding the sponsoring group’s bipartisan efforts.

“America’s energy future is the key to our economic viability and creating jobs now. These should not be partisan issues, which is why I expect this Senate Bill will experience such broad support from both sides of the aisle.

“Nothing in America has such a thoroughly transformative economic potential as domestic natural gas. Simply by increasing the use of domestic natural gas in vehicles, we can get on our own resources, immediately create 400,000 good jobs, redirect billions of dollars of foreign oil money back into the hands of American businesses, and cut our dependence on OPEC by half.”

EnergyBidder encourages everyone to support S. 1863.