The Observer Newspapers |$4 Gas? Oh, Well

May 9, 2008

$4 Gas? Oh, Well

To the editor:

Since the energy crisis of the early 1970s our country has done little to encourage conservation. In my opinion, we don't really have a coherent energy policy, yet our dependence on imported oil is the greatest threat facing our country. Our invasion of Iraq might not be only about oil, but you can bet the rent that if Iraq and the surrounding area didn't have large petroleum reserves, we wouldn't be there.

No nuclear power plants have been built in the United States in the past 20 years. Nuclear power provides only 19 percent of our electricity-in France it's over 75 percent. Americans account for only 5 percent of the world's population but we consume 26 percent of the world's energy.

We have become a lazy, wasteful nation. Drive any major highway in the country and nearly everyone will pass you. There are entire residential streets and developments in which natural gas lampposts burn 24 hours a day. In the winter we set our thermostats high instead of wearing a sweater or sweatshirt. In the summer we turn on the air conditioning when a fan would suffice. Virtually everything we buy is placed in plastic bags instead of paper. We have drive-up banking, restaurants, cleaners, departments of motor vehicles, you name it. Go figure.

Let's be honest. Unless and until we "wake up," we don't deserve low energy prices. We can continue to complain or we can do something about it. It all begins with us.

Bruce Hill

Herndon