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attention on the intemational poli–
tics of energy. How to keep supplies
ft owing
is
becoming the po1iticians'
di1emma.
Tbe most basic aspect of this di-
1emma is why sucb great amounts of
supplies a re even needed. Certainly
the present internationa1 tension
over oil would not exist unless there
was burgeoning consumption of this
energy source elsewhere in the
world. Certainly there wou1d be no
e1ectrical crunch during peak, hot
summer periods if our daily lives
were not demanding more and more
electricity.
To understand what is behind the
energy crisis, we must understand
how we depend upon energy, not
just where it comes from. We must
understand why the wor1d is con–
suming as much energy this century
as it did during all prior history.
Consider the following figures
which measure energy consumption
on an
individual leve/:
Each Ameri–
can, for example, is responsible for
burning the equivalent of just over
24,000 pounds of coal every year.
Each Canadian is responsib1e for a
little less (20,000 pounds). Statistics
from otber leading countries are as
follows: each Swede , 14,000
pounds; each Czech, 14,000
pounds; eac h Belgian , 13 ,000
pounds; eacb Dane, 13,000 pounds;
each East German. 13.000 pounds.
Each citizen of Australia, Britain,
the Netherlands, and West Ger–
many consumes close to the equiva-
1ent of 12,000 pounds of coa! each
year.
These figures contrast greatly
with energy consumption in the un–
derdeveloped world. For example,
an Ethiopian nomad herding his
HUNDREDS
of railroad gondolas carry–
ing low-sulphur coal mined in Virginia,
Kentucky and West Virginia wait at
the port of Norfolk, Virginia to be
transported to Europe and Jopan.
Jerry Gentry
-
Ploin Truth
PLAIN TRUTH July-August 1973