How can a country that consumes a quarter of the world's energy not have a coherent energy plan?

The United States, considered the world's lone superpower since the fall of the Soviet Union, is completely at the mercy of oil-producing nations, many of whom wish us ill while happily cashing our checks.

Gasoline prices have skyrocketed as the cost of oil has doubled in the past year -- and by over $10 a barrel last Friday alone.

How do low-wage workers make it? The answer: barely, if at all.

The truth is, the surge in oil prices is hurting everyone, and not just at the pump. Small businesses are struggling with costs and customers, as consumers necessarily cut back on unnecessary expenditures to pay for getting around.

In addition, we know that current electricity production cannot possibly keep up with demand. What will the summer bring? In recent years, there have been rolling blackouts in the West.

Yet, there is an opposition group to every workable energy source: America isn't drilling for oil or expanding refineries, and there hasn't been a nuclear power plant put in motion in the United States since 1973 -- despite the fact that France gets almost 80 percent of its electricity from some 60 nuclear power plants.

The United States can't even get its nuclear waste site up and running in Nevada.

While the U.S. has the largest coal reserves in the world, and it supplies more than half of our electricity, it's also an environmentally touchy source.

With global warming an increasing concern around the world, the environmental impact of energy sources will always be an issue.

Still, as Americans struggle to make ends meet and still pay $4 a gallon for gasoline, the United States won't open up its own lands and shores for drilling. Meanwhile, the government is stockpiling oil for a rainy day in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve -- over 700 million barrels, or nearly $100 billion worth.

None of this makes a lick of sense.

We need a national energy policy. Now. Or close the U.S. Department of Energy.

Thankfully, the free market is responding more quickly and sanely than the government: Demand for more fuel-efficient cars is inspiring auto manufacturers to retool, and none too soon.

But there are things the government can and should do.

We need to start harvesting the energy we have -- including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The region already accounts for 17 percent of U.S. oil production, and is the continent's largest oil field. ANWR is about 19 million acres, but only about 1.5 million is set aside for energy exploration, and it's the ugliest, most barren portion.

We also need to ramp up production and research and development of alternative energy sources, including solar, wind and hydrogen.

Candidates for president and for Congress should be called upon to propose their own detailed energy plans for this country. It's time we had a blueprint for the future.

In the short term, the government also needs to consider releasing some of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. If they're saving it for a rainy day, we have a news flash.

It's raining!