There are years -- say, 1776, 1861, 1941 -- when the sleeping giant, the United States, wakes up from a long slumber. Americans are not easy to rouse, but when they are provoked the world better step aside.

On Wednesday, President Bush called for accelerated development of oil shale in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. "For many years, the high cost of extracting oil from shale exceeded the benefit. But today the calculus is changing," Bush said.

Here's the calculus: gasoline is $4 a gallon and rising, and there are up to 2 trillion -- yes, that's a "T" -- barrels of fuel lying dormant in the shale of the Colorado Basin. That is more than all the OPEC nations have in oil reserves.

Meanwhile, in Missouri yesterday, Republican presidential candidate John McCain called for building 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030, and 55 more in following years. He also pledged that, if elected, he'd seek $2 billion a year to "make clean coal a reality."

The Arizona senator spoke a day after calling for more drilling for oil offshore. Some call that an election-year conversion, but Americans all over are opening their eyes to the need for the United States to throw off its self-imposed shackles and attain energy independence.

This is no pipe dream; we have all the natural resources we need. In fact, the U.S. could become the world's greatest energy producer. McCain pointed out that this nation has oil reserves of 21 billion barrels. American soil also contains 275 billion tons of coal, more than any other nation in the world. And our energy arsenal includes an estimated 1,779 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

As for solar power, there are vast stretches of the Southwest where a solar energy farm the size of South Carolina wouldn't even be noticed. And American companies are racing ahead to advance that technology.

But our natural resources are only part of the story. More than any other nation, we have freed people to pursue their dreams, and in so doing we have unleashed tremendous human energy. Examples abound throughout our history.

Here in Utah, for example, Oil Shale Exploration Corp. says it's ready to go, with new methods that will be economically efficient and environmentally sound. "This is not a science project," Daniel G. Elcan, managing director of the Vernal-based firm, told a wire service.

Across the fruited plain, Americans are rarin' to apply their ingenuity to the challenges facing us. So what is holding us back? Some in Congress, mostly Democrats, block energy development. They worry about the dust, the sand, the dirt, rock carvings, caribou, the snail darter and everything except how to keep America free and great.

Meanwhile, look at the countries to which we must kowtow to get more oil. Most of these nations are saddled with dictatorships or ancient historical burdens. Our free, productive society is capable of telling all the sheiks and dictators to go take a flying leap. Maybe we'll actually do it this time.

A word of warning to America's detractors: Look back at history, and see what happened when the United States woke up. We're now experiencing the Pearl Harbor of the 21st century, and Congress, the president and the candidates are paying attention.

So let's throw down the gauntlet to Barack Obama and John McCain. Here's what a real leader would say:

"When the American people step up to a challenge, they have always triumphed. If I am elected president, I will launch a new program, not to the moon but toward total energy independence. Elect me and join in the greatest entrepreneurial effort the world has ever seen. Together we can ensure that before the next decade is out the United States will produce enough energy for all its domestic needs."

And OPEC can wither on the vine.

Plenty can be done right now. We suggest starting with pressure on Utah's lone Democrat in Congress who has been a bit slow to get on board. Utah's Republicans have been backing oil-shale and energy development enthusiastically for a long time, while Jim Matheson has been touting a measure he sponsored that would supposedly rein in excesses in oil speculation.

Forget the speculators. The way to cut down excesses in oil trading is to pump more oil and develop oil shale for all its worth. If the U.S. brings its full energy resources to bear in the market, we won't have to tinker with laws about energy trading and the like. The traders and speculators will be falling all over themselves to sell, bringing prices down.

To let Matheson know what you think, contact him in Washington at (202) 225-3011 or fax (202) 225-5638. (Postal mail to congressional offices is still screened, so that takes too long.)

A word of advice as the American giant awakes: Fasten your seat belt.