The board, a non-profit organization made up of southern legislators and governors, provides a number of convincing arguments and conclusions that should help propel the national debate on energy. First among them is that if the U.S. wants to curtail oil imports (which the group wants to eliminate altogether in 20 years), it can only be done by addressing transportation fuels. While conservation is not discounted, it is not offered as the usual panacea and, instead, the need for abundant fuel supplies is emphasized.

In a rare display of clear thinking, the report does not make the usual apples-to-oranges allusions to a future role for solar and wind energies, implicitly recognizing their insignificance in transportation. And in a heartening example of rationality, the report calls the current hype on ethanol “misplaced.”

1. Coal to liquids, using Fischer-Tropsch or similar techniques. The report suggests that this effort may replace as much as 30 percent of imported oil.
2. Revitalizing old oil fields by sequestering carbon dioxide from existing power plants and other industries and injecting it as an enhanced oil recovery mechanism.
3. The generation of synthesis gas from biomass such as agricultural wastes and wood, and then following with Fischer-Tropsch.
4. A renewed effort to produce oil from shale.

Of course, all of this is going to be very expensive. The board suggests various government incentives and regulatory easements to get the program started. Although the ambition to fully replace foreign oil is far-fetched (why would foreign suppliers abandon the biggest market?) the report paints a doable, well thought-out scenario, and presents a target that is reasonable and devoid of the usual nonsense found in past “energy plans.”