Something has got to give!

Gas is $5 a gallon in California. The national average is now at $4 a gallon. Crude Oil jumped $11 a barrel on Friday alone.

This is ridiculous!

When will Americans unite and stand up to our own government?

When will we DEMAND that we utilize our own resources and technologies?

When will our cries be heard in Washington?

It is time that we unite and DEMAND without equivocation that we drill here, drill now. Cuba is allowing China to set up shop in our backyard. Why can't we drill in the Gulf of Mexico, too?

We have better technology that can protect he environment from spills and slicks and overall upheaval of the Eco-system. The giant oil companies have spend billions of dollars researching and developing new and better ways to extract oil from beneath the surface. They are proving their progress in that absolutely zero oil rigs in the international waters of the Gulf of Mexico leaked during Katrina. Katrina is the strongest storm to hit the US in a long time, the strongest to hit that particular region in generations. And yet, no oil leaked from the rigs in place owned by the big, bad oil companies.

Don't you think they could extract oil from ANWR and off the coast of the US with the same sturdy technology? Even taking greater care of the Eco-system in each drilling location?

It is far past time for the United States to become energy independent. We should not have to rely on the good will of pseudo-friends like OPEC, Saudi Arabia, and other oil-producers. It is time we tap into our own resources.

Our economy will start to collapse in a matter of months. With energy costs this high, we are on the verge of a new depression. It is time for all Americans to get on the phone, to email, to snail-mail, and any other possible way contact our leaders in Washington, DC, and DEMAND change. Now.

We need to drill and refine our own oil. The second the trucks start rolling to drill our own oil and leave OPEC in the dust, the price of crude oil will plummet. From $150 a barrel to $70, $60, or even less. I guarantee it. Everyone who knows anything about the oil market will tell you that the second the United States sends trucks and equipment to Alaska, off the coast of Florida, and other beds of untapped crude, the very second, oil will drop in price because the OPEC countries will be desperate to keep the US as a customer and prevent an American profit on their market.

Once we pass legislation that allows the extraction of our own oil, we need to then work with, and not against, the oil companies and power companies to develop a 10-year, a 25-year, and a 50-year plan for complete energy independence and an elimination of fossil fuels.

Wind turbines, nuclear power plants, solar power, and all the other "green" technologies need to be pursued with a vengeance even if oil drops in price. Oil will dry up. Oil will rise once again. We need to plan and protect the American economy and American families from suffering as they are now.

It is time. I believe the 1980's should have been the real decade of energy independence, but we never took the time to really look ahead. We have wasted over 30 years since the gas rations and oil shortages and have made no real progress to prevent this economic disaster.

Newt Gingrich is a major figurehead in a new campaign to get the word out and organize Americans to lead us out of this trying time. We need to show the elected leaders that they are on the hot seat. We need solutions from those in power, or we need to elect people who will create those solutions.

Visit American Solutions and sign the petition, follow the links, and email your elected officials.

We cannot wait for them to do it on their own. It is now time. Get off your laurels and join the movement and become a part of the solution.