Now, we have gotten what we have all prayed for; oil has dropped drastically in price, and the gasoline that fuels our lives has become more affordable. This is an opportune time, as the American citizen has been under a full economic assault as of late; relief at the pocketbook cannot be seen in a negative light. However, this looks to be a cruel repeat of the 1970's and 1980's, when the country went from oil embargoes to energy conservation and innovation (Carter put solar panels on the White House!) to an entrenching of oil as the medium of all exchange, as prices dropped and Regan removed the panels and turned up the heat. Low energy prices, though great for an already dependent consumer, destroy alternative innovation and dedication; this seems to be a cruel game of OPEC yo-yo....
From Hot, Flat, and Crowded:
It is a cruel joke the way Congress and the Bush administration count pennies when it comes to building new industries, as if the money for wind, solar, and biomass were coming out of their own children's piggybanks, and yet they throw money out the window, like a house full of drunken sailors, when it comes to the old, established, well-capitalized oil, coal, and gas industries-let alone the agricultural lobby...
Over the last 50 years, tens of billions of dollars in subsidies (which never expire) have been extended to the fossil fuel and nuclear industries....it is really sad that the United States has reached a point where the priorities of Congress could become so distorted by politics that Washington would turn its back on the next great global industry-clean power.
-Thomas Friedman
