Party pooper.

But I'm afraid you're right. No one could find fault with a genuine renaissance in US energy production, especially if it can be managed with a minimum of environmental hazard. The benefits would be enormous.

But I suspect much of these glowing promises of a technologial cavalry coming to our rescue are merely a way of lulling us to the dangers and problems we face, and to justify business as usual; especially since foreign customers would compete with domestic ones and prices would remain high.

I do not believe that there are shadowy corporate or government conspiracies designed to suppress new technologies that might solve or ameliorate our energy problems. The car and oil companies are definitely not trying to bury that car that runs on water.

However, I do believe that every conceivable effort is being made to promote and expand highly profitable technologies currently in place for as long as possible.

When fish populations decline, fishermen don't reduce their harvest and let them recover. They buy bigger boats, go farther out, and seek other species. No conspiracies here, its just the market at work.