On December 19, 2002, Congressman Jay Inslee had an op-ed in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer calling for a "New Apollo Project."

...Congress should seize the moment to champion a unified and highly prioritized national program to fulfill America's destiny of leading the world to a new clean energy future. We should call for a total national commitment to harness the genius of America's can-do attitude that would design, invent and deploy the new clean energy technologies that befit this new century.

No single national endeavor has such capacity to expand our economy by tapping our innate and unique technological genius for innovation. No single national priority is so critical to reduce the risks from impending man made climate change. No single non-military action can be as effective in avoiding the security challenges that haunt us due to our addiction to Mideast oil.

Now the laws of economics, the laws of physics and the laws of politics all are aligned in a possible perfect storm, allowing us to inspire the nation to achievement just as grand as John F. Kennedy's challenge to the nation in 1961 to put a man on the moon.

Then, the day before President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) released a plan to "develop alternatives that don't leave us so reliant on other countries."

We need a new, bold initiative -- in the spirit of the Apollo moon-landing project -- this time focused on breaking our country's dependence on Middle East Oil. . . .

We need to take steps now to increase our energy independence and energy security. We need to find other ways to power our transportation sector, the fastest growing user of energy in this country.

Converting America's automobile fleet to fuel cell vehicles isn't something that is going to happen overnight, but it's never going happen if we don't dedicate the necessary resources and make it a priority.

If we make the decision to aggressively pursue fuel cell technologies now, we'll be able to pole vault over current technology and transform our energy future.

And the good news is our progress in technology and the lessons of the past three decades, have taught us that cleaning up the environment will strengthen not weaken our economy. We need to push back on the scaremongering which falsely portrays pollution as the price of prosperity. We don't have to choose between jobs and the environment. Protecting the environment is jobs - the high value added jobs of the future. This is not pie-in-the-sky, tree hugging, do-gooder environmental day dreaming. This is real. It's happening in pioneering efforts across the country and across the globe. It awaits our leadership. ...

We know if we invest in new technologies we can build cars and SUVs that are twice and three times as efficient as today - and one day a car that relies on no oil at all. And a company that may help build that car can be found right there in Cambridge; it's called Nuvera Fuel Cells and it's putting fuel cell components in prototype cars today. ...

And today the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 is taking the lead by training technicians in the maintenance and installation of solar. Minnesota now requires that a percentage of its electricity be generated from the wind, and family farmers have gone into the power business. In Woodstock, Minnesota, Richard and Roger Kas have built 17 wind turbines on their land, creating enough electricity to power more than 2,000 homes. Other farmers are literally growing renewable fuels in their fields which will bring warmth and light to our homes.

For Americans who work in engineering, design, and industry, the growth of wind, solar and geothermal can spark an unprecedented surge in production. And since developing new energy technologies is a research-driven, pathbreaking activity, a commitment to it will yield thousands and ultimately hundreds of thousands of well-paying new jobs. The machines of renewable energy will be made of steel, aluminum and glass. They will be machined, manufactured, distributed and maintained.

On February 19, 2003, Congressman Dick Gephardt announced his candidacy for President of the United States. In his speech he offered the following thoughts on energy policy:

I've got news for the President, the Vice President and the oil companies they used to run: there is no path to oil self-sufficiency. We can't drill our way there, no matter how many public lands we despoil; two-thirds of the world's oil is in the Persian Gulf, and only three percent of it is here in America. And that's not going to change.

There's a new way. Industry is already working toward totally hydrogen-powered cars that get better gas mileage, at a lower price without using a single drop of oil. So what are we waiting for? The next spike in oil prices? The next gasoline crisis? The next terrible attack on our country? President Bush gave us 30 seconds of rhetoric on this topic in his State of the Union address, but the way he's cut back efforts to promote alternative energy, we wouldn't make a dent in the problem for 30 years.

As President, I'll launch an aggressive new Apollo Project -- to work with industry to achieve true energy independence within ten years. We'll make energy-efficient products cheaper and more widely available by giving businesses tax cuts to make them, and by giving families tax cuts to buy them. If we don't do this now -- if we don't appeal to common sense, and our common cause as Americans -- we'll be at the mercy of the terrorists and the oil barons for the rest of our lives.