Photo courtesy bobster1985.

Having watched Sarah Palin’s speech tonight during the broadcast of the Republican National Convention, she certainly seems like a go-getter and a bulldog.  From budget reform in Alaska to gas tax revenue refunds for taxpayers, it seems a nod for Palin is a good choice for America.  What struck me most during her nearly 45-minute speech, however, was a quick sentence or two that jabbed at leaders like Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi.  Palin said that she wants to drill in Alaska, but she wants to use all the resources available to us - wind, solar, geothermal, clean coal and - cover your ears Democrats - nuclear.  Palin understands that wind and solar energy won’t get the job done for America right now.  She understands the inefficiencies and immaturity of these products, and suggests a balance of many different types of alternate fuels, in addition to the standard fare of oil, to power our country for years to come.

Palin said she wants to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil and not have to extract from our strategic reserves whenever there’s a crisis.  Nancy Pelosi prefers that we take from our strategic reserves to lower fuel prices.  While we may not be able to drill our way to lower oil prices, just the threat of it by President Bush has crude oil trading at around $109 a barrel, down from a high of around $146.

Palin’s message combined the elements of conservation, energy independence and Americanism.  While I’m sure that none of us feel conservation is a bad thing, mandates handed down by the government forcing us to use compact fluorescent bulbs that contain mercury and proposals to control private home thermostats are ridiculous, if not dictatorial in nature.  With the little presented in Palin’s speech tonight, a true mix of various forms of alternative energy can be in place to supplement each other, rather than trying to go to completely clean and renewable energy in 10 years, as proposed by Al Gore.  She wants to break the stranglehold on us by OPEC and use the resources found in America.  And she wants to create jobs to extract and refine those resources, instead of taxing us to death for using our cars for driving our kids to school or attending church on Sunday.

And that, Barack Obama, is change I can believe in.