I believe the world is approaching an energy crisis, and that drastic measures will be needed to avert disaster. But I also believe the earlier we start, the easier the problem will be to solve. I also believe we can have our cake and eat it too, it IS possible to have a comfortable and modern technological lifestyle without bankrupting the planet, but I don't think it will happen if we have a no holds barred hard hat attitude about it. We have to be willing to give up something or risk losing it all, and I believe conservation is the most painless way to do it. Don't expect the free market to save us, there is a near-monoply in oil, or will be soon, and those who control it will lower the price to frustrate any of our efforts at market conservation. Hell, the Saudis were even pissed off when we established the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

My new job is in traffic planning, and there is a bitter lesson from that field which should be grasped by energy and resource managers. You don't relieve traffic congestion by building more roads. More roads just encourages people to live farther from work and buy bigger, more comfortable cars, which creates a need for even more roads. You won't solve the energy crisis by getting more energy, it will only postpone it, and make it worse when it does come. But new sources could buy us time to rebuild our infrastructure so it is more energy efficient. New sources of energy will only be a stopgap measure UNLESS they are coupled with a comprehensive energy management program.

I just hope our energy planning has better success than our traffic planning.