(RIGHT CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE LETTER IN .doc FORMAT)

Dr. Bill Wattenburg
www.wattenburg.us
drbill.us

January 26,  2012
 
 (original letter to President  Obama  and
Washington Post ad*   February  25,  2009)

To:  President  Barack Obama

Subject: 
    In your State of the Union address last night, you  said  that the U.S. must  start using our natural gas.  Here is how  to start the ball rolling immediately, not years from now.  And, you can bring gas prices down to  $2  a gallon in a hurry for struggling American workers.  Otherwise, they will  soon  be paying for  $5 gas - and blaming your administration.

Mr. President,  you must sign a simple executive order tomorrow that says that all federal vehicles (not private cars)  purchased after,  say,  January 1,  2013,  must  be dual fuel vehicles that run on COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS as well as other fuels such   as gasoline,  diesel, or ethanol which can be used as a backup.   Smart  companies and municipalities are already using hundreds of thousands of such natural gas vehicles.   Adding federal vehicles  will start the ball rolling to replace foreign oil in a  big way.   We have a 100 years’  supply of natural gas now, and more discovered every month  -- more energy than all the oil in the middle east.    And twice as much more available in  Alaska. 
Converting our federal vehicles quickly is a genius idea that came from nationally syndicated financial expert  Bob Brinker.    He realized that foreign  oil suppliers will drop the price of gas to $2.00 in a hurry to stop us from using our enormous reserves of natural gas.   This is an all-win,  no-lose initiative for you.   All you have to do is sign a piece of paper.  (Mr. President,  you have to be  smart enough to at least bluff OPEC a  little.  It costs nothing.)
This will save our working families hundreds of billions every year in the cost of fuel and create millions of jobs  --  without more national debt.  

 Any federal agency that does not want to buy natural gas, dual-fuel  vehicles can op out.   But your executive order alone  will cause foreign oil suppliers to think  twice about  blackmailing the U.S. for oil.   It  tells them where we are going -- and that we will not need their oil in ten years or so. 

Why does this work?   The federal government is the biggest purchaser of  new vehicles.    The automakers already sell dual-fuel cars that run on natural gas or gasoline (or ethanol)  for utility companies and taxis companies all over the country who  gladly pay a  higher price for  these dual-fuel vehicles because their fuel costs are reduced.  With  the federal  government purchasing millions of natural gas vehicles,  car manufacturers will quickly make natural gas cars and light trucks available to everyone at no big price increase over  conventional gasoline cars.     Natural gas is available in almost all urban areas where most of the commuting is done.   It is easy to fuel natural gas cars at home.  This initiative does not force any private citizen to buy natural gas/dual-fuel cars right now, or in the future.   

This will not cost the government an extra dime.  But it will bring the price of gas down to $2.00 and stop bankrupting millions of  working families in America.   Other countries power all their cars on natural gas.  Natural gas is easy to use in vehicles and it delivers great performance.    If you take this  simple action to build the market for CNG dual-fuel  cars,  most new cars purchased by citizens will be running on CNG within a few years. 

Think of it this way:   If we had a  national surplus of wheat for the next 100  years, what would you do if the price of corn was beyond the reach of working families?  Common sense says use the wheat as a staple instead of corn in our food products.     For the last three years,  your administration has forced working  families to stand in line for the  expensive corn ($4.00 gas to go to work).   That is not very smart.    In fact, it is cruel and senseless punishment of  millions of working families who trusted you to represent them.  The American public is catching on.   You had better do something long before the next election.  
Over 200,000  of these natural gas  vehicles are already being used by smart municipalities and companies, with tens of thousands more every year  (you can buy a new natural gas Honda now).    The big car manufacturers have been making them for years  (at extra cost).  No new design or technology is needed.    The huge federal  market will motivate the car manufacturers to supply  natural gas cars at reasonable prices for American workers.  (Federal agencies can op out for a while if they have good reasons.)  Our abundant natural gas is  everywhere for fueling cars.    Private citizens do not need to change anything in their cars right now.  But they will be able to buy an inexpensive  natural gas, dual-fuel  car when they need a new one. 
Your Department of Energy has not delivered the promise of “alternative  fuel.”   But DOE  has kept the price of gas high by refusing to open up our oil resources.    This is cruel.  You must stop punishing 100 million  struggling  families in  America.   If you don’t take action soon, you will be denying them full use of our largest natural resource – natural gas.  You must use the biggest club we have to force  the price of foreign oil down to where it will no longer bankrupt the low-income families of America.   High gas prices are a major burden on our economy.   Many low income families have lost their homes since you came into office because they could not pay both their mortgages and the additional $2,000 a year for gas to go to work. 

1. Natural gas is the only significant “alternative transportation fuel” that will be available over the ten to twenty years.   And it is  available everywhere, right now!
2. Dual-fuel natural gas+gasoline(or ethanol) cars will suddenly be available to the general public at no increased cost.   Car makers now deliver them for utilities and Taxis.
3. The middle east  oil countries  know how much natural gas we have.  They are terrified that we start using it and less of their oil.   They will bring the price of gas down to $2 a gallon and keep it there to discourage our conversion.  

The biggest worry for the foreign oil suppliers is that we will start using our enormous  natural gas  supplies, now estimated to supply the U.S. more than 100 years.  The  price of gasoline will drop to $2.00 per gallon or less –  even before we convert  large numbers of our vehicles to natural gas.   American workers – and the economy -- will applaud you.
The outrage  of  $5 gas is coming soon  - probably next year.  It will wipe out the recovery and your administration in the next  election.  It must be stopped.    Challenge the foreign oil suppliers with  America’s most abundant and cleanest transportation  fuel,  NATURAL GAS.   We can still use all the ethanol our farmers can make in these dual-fuel cars.    Conversion to natural gas cars sounds like a long and expensive transition.  Not at all!   You don’t need to force anyone.  All you need to do is start the ball rolling with a million government cars switched over to dual fuel vehicles.
 
SIMPLY ANNOUNCING A REAL U.S.  GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE TO USE NATURAL GAS FOR TRANSPORTATION FUEL  WILL BRING THE PRICE OF CRUDE OIL DOWN BELOW  $50 A BARREL AND GAS DOWN TO $2.00 FOR THE SRRUGGLING AMERICAN WORKING PUBLIC  --RIGHT NOW, NOT FIVE  YEARS FROM NOW.  

*  ADVICE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA PUBLISHED IN THE WASHINGTON POST, 25 FEBRUARY 2009, PAGE A2

The ad below was placed in the Washington Post on 25 Feb 2009 by Bill Wattenburg. It appeared on page A2 at the bottom left corner. Bill Wattenburg paid for this ad to send a direct message to the president that both he and Bob Brinker believe is extremely important. They have given the president their most constructive ideas and advice. Bob Brinker and Bill Wattenburg do not work for the natural gas industry.