By now it should be abundantly clear to everyone that energy costs have risen and will probably continue to rise. Many factors contribute to this. First, we have an expanding population and our standard of living dictates the use of more energy. Second, we have a growing economy as do many other countries all demanding more energy. Third, we are dealing with finite quantities of oil, coal and natural gas. Hydroelectric power is already maxed out. Fourth, we are heavily dependent on foreign oil. OPEC, the cartel representing the foreign oil producers, is controlling foreign oil production and thus its supply and price.
On top of this we have the environmentalists who killed the use of nuclear energy here while it is widely used in Europe, Japan and other parts of the world. They also want to breech dams and limit exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas.
Now comes our Vice President, Al Gore, running for President who has some radical ideas about the environment. Read his book, Earth in the Balance. He is greatly concerned about global warming and efforts to control it. We have been having global warming since the last ice age, otherwise we would still be under several hundred feet of ice here in the Puget Sound region. Weather is cyclical and rather unpredictable in spite of considerable knowledge gained about its behavior in the past fifty years. If Gore is elected president, he will try to put policies in place that will greatly increase the cost of energy and seriously restrict or control its use. I much prefer the private sector responding to energy market demands. My vote will go to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who understand the energy business.
Everett
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