An opportunity is staring our nation in the face. A major challenge, with truly extraordinary potential. Almost up there with a cure for cancer. Will we have the political will to reach for it? It will be up to the voters, Congress and creativity of American business.

President Bush introduced the subject, oh so timidly, in his state of the Union speech. To replace 75% of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. Simply unacceptable. We are in a crisis. $60 to $100 dollars per barrel is economically devastating for America. And, as it has been pointed out, we are financing acts of terror from the revenues siphoned off to the Islamic radicals. The real opportunity is for a 3-5 year plan and action.

It has been suggested that the road to freedom from fossil fuel starts with a gasoline tax to encourage conservation with incentives for using currently available alternative fuels like ethanol and hybrid engines. It’s an excellent beginning. But we must and can do more. Urgently.

Two projects in modern American history can serve as useful guide posts.

First, the Manhattan Project. Because it brought together the best scientific minds to solve specific focused problems. So let’s pick the most likely energy alternative prospects with mass potential: Clean, safe nuclear; hydrogen; solar. Perhaps one or two others. Let the nation’s best scientific minds do the research necessary to get the alternative fuels to be possible, safe and affordable.

Then, there’s a second model. The extraordinary yet not adequately heralded Genome Project. Humanity will benefit for centuries from the unlocking of our human DNA code. The parallel here is clear. Government supported research at work in collaboration and even competition with the private sector. But the roles are clear. Public research money goes to unlock the possibilities. The money for the road to nowhere, for countless pork and earmarked corruption, goes instead to provide the way to clean, abundant, safe energy.

Think of the resultant exports of technology, products and services. It will help and dramatically improve our trade balance. Think also what the oil producing countries will do seeing an investment of more than a hundred billion dollars in alternative fuels. They won’t have to send Ambassadors to the White House to ask if we’re serious. They’ll know. And how long do you think a $60 or $80 barrel of oil will hang around? Want to see how fast the oil producing nations will want to monetize their assets? There may well be an oil panic, but it will be to lower the prices, to make it harder for alternative fuels to compete against plentiful, cheap oil. For once, a problem facing the producers rather than the buyers of oil.

And with the surplus money we will save, we can help build schools in the Middle East, help teach youngsters trades, useful knowledge and the tools they need to connect with the free enterprise global market place. And yes, we will need to help manage the transition for current energy companies during the in-between eras.

Can we do all this. We have the creativity and the business infrastructure to do it. We even have a short window of competitive advantage, before India and China catch up.

Yes, there is urgency. For competitive reasons, for safety and security reasons, for ecological imperatives. We all know this. Now it’s up to the wisdom and courage of Congress to lead. For the voters to rise up and press. And for America’s business and scientific community to show the power of our creativity and our ability to do good for shareholders, for the nation, for all the people of the world.