It's Always Greener on the Other Side...

…of these state boundaries. The Huffington Post recently released an article of the 10 least green states in the United States. The conclusions may be surprising to some, they certainly were to me. Living in Los Angeles and breathing in the thick L.A. smog day in and day out, one would expect California to be somewhere on that list. Or with densely populated areas of New York City, the state of New York should have earned a spot on this superlative list. But alas, California and New York seem to have done enough to keep their names off the callout of the country’s worst polluters.

Instead, the list is filled with states whose postcards showcase the greenest hills, pastures, and fields.

10. Illinois

9. Missouri

8. Kentucky

7. Texas

6. Pennsylvania

5. New Jersey

4. Louisiana

3. West Virginia

2. Indiana

1. Ohio (not Bowling so Green)

While that may appear as a list of the most undesirable states to have to drive through, let me assure that there are already plenty of drivers (and their emissions) clouding the airspace within the states’ borders.

Most of the incriminating acts of pollution arise from the power-producing parts of these states. There are refineries, plants, mines, and reserves across the otherwise verdant landscape. However, these pollutant places are helping keep gas prices low(er) as they are doing as much as they can to reduce American dependence on crude oil. Harvesting these regions for natural gas and coal does lower the states’ respective greenness, but it is for unavoidable reasons that we do so.

To end on a brighter note, here are HuffPost’s 10 greenest states (and none of them are too surprising):

10. Colorado

9. Oregon

8. Idaho

7. Montana

6. South Dakota

5. Hawaii

4. Nevada

3. New Hampshire

2. Maine

1. Vermont (appropriately named the Green Mountain State)

This One's For Keeps: Last Call for a Comprehensive Energy Policy

$2.92, $3.19, $3.54, $4.07, $5.13, $6.45, an arm, a leg, an arm and a leg, your firstborn son.

Those are the average U.S. per-gallon gas prices over the last three months, the current cost, and a slight projection into the ensuing months to come. Alright, so maybe you won’t be handing over a baby boy to the gas station attendant in exchange for a full tank by September, but there is no argument that gas prices are certainly on a steep rise once again.

There is argument and debate, however, regarding the best solution for our gas and energy problems. The answer lies within our own borders and territorial waters, not in Northern Africa or on the Arabian Peninsula. We must not panic and tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve either, but what we must do is actually realize and implement a comprehensive energy policy, one that does not stall on Capitol Hill.

The turbulence in Libya and Saudi Arabia is the most likely culprit for the skyrocketing pump charges for Americans. Some believe the solution to our gas problem is simple: bombs. We insert ourselves and our advanced warfare technology into the ongoing conflict and impose peace using our big stick. However, turmoil in this oil-endowed region of the world is seemingly endless. The current uprisings may be quelled and barrel prices brought down for a couple happy years, but how long until the next Arabian snafu? History is not on our side here.

Others are flustered by the rapid escalation of gas prices and insist we start utilizing our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to ease the pain at the pump. This could be, and probably would be, a fatal mistake in the future. The reserve “exists to protect the United States in case of a significant interruption in our oil imports. It was not designed as a means for the government to manipulate the price of gasoline.” Tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at this point would be nearsighted and not strategic at all, as the existing energy sources in the world are slowly dwindling. Each gallon taken from the reserve is just a little more vulnerable we leave ourselves in the instance of a true emergency.

Instead of dropping bombs in the desert or drawing from the SPR, those serving our country in Washington need to establish and sign a comprehensive energy policy to resolve not only the current situation but future oil and energy crises. Past attempts of this kind came to a halt due to bipartisan disagreement. If there were a policy in place already, we would not be suffering as much from the price of oil as we are today.

Domestic drilling and looking into alternative energy sources like natural gas should both be detailed in this plan. While these seem like contradictory, opposing forces, both are important for short-term, long-term, and longer-term relief.

The call for such progressive actions requires the need for a workforce, providing the potential to significantly dropping the unemployment rate. Both extraction and exploration creates jobs for the proverbial blue-collar and white-collar worker. Getting Americans back to work will make it considerably easier to endure the gasoline prices, until they drop due to this plan that is, and future fluctuations in oil production, domestic and foreign.

With high pump prices come high costs of doing business, decreasing the consumer market in our recuperating economy. Fortunately, the opposite also holds true. From a comprehensive energy plan, wallets will be heavier and people will have the means to spend more on leisure, bringing the status of our economy from recovering to booming.

In the long run, not only will our dependence on foreign oil will be incredibly reduced, but the dependence on oil in general will diminish. People will worry less about the next crisis in the Middle East and concern themselves more with the decision between buying a new set of golf clubs or a jet ski.