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Learning the Lost Art of
'
by
George Ritter
Traditiona/ly neglected in favor of developing new
sources ofenergy, conservation has for years been considered
the province of environmentalists, eco-nuts, and "earth
people. " But thanks to recent efforts of some /eaders in government and
industry, energy conservation is beginning to receive some long overdue
attention. This article explains why a consen1ation-oriented approach is no
longer a desirable option but an overriding necessity
if
the United
States ever expects to jind a lasting solution to its energy problems.
1
n many respects the energy crisis
is like the common cold. De–
pending.on whom you listen to.
you '11 get a different idea about
its ultimate cure.
A petroleum engineer might say
our first priority ought to be the de–
velopment of more fossil fue! re–
serves. An official from the Energy
Research and Development Agency
might extol the virtues of breeder
reactors. General Motors executives
might tell you that if only the gov–
ernment would get off their backs,
their corporation could manufacture
more economical cars. And a zeal–
ous advocate of a simon-pure free
10
market would say the ultimate solu–
tion lies in the old faithful laws of
supply and demand- unfettered by
government regulations.
Many leaders in government and
industry are also quick to point out
that in the future Americans can cx–
pect their e1ectrical power demands
to double and their dependence on
fossil fuels to continue to increasc.
To meet these increasing demands
the nation wiJI have to double or
triple its production of coa!. add
hundreds of nuclear reactors and
work hard on the development of
synthetic fuels, shale oil, and solar
e lectric-power generation. Capital
costs, we are told, may go as high as
two trillion dollars.
But such business-as-usual. drill–
deeper, mine-further schemes, ei–
ther singly or in combination. miser–
ably miss the fundamental point of
the energy crisis.
As
in the prover–
bial "catch-22" scenario. they leave
us playing a perpetua) no-win game,
where society expends ever greater :;
quantities of energy just to sustain
~
massive levels of consumption. And
~
like the aspirin-for-cold remedy,
~
they do nothing more than treat
¡;–
symptoms.
g
Traditionally most of the govern-
j
ment-sponsorcd energy programs
The PLAIN TRUTH March 1978