If the US and Europe are to preserve the progress made toward the
prospect of replacing what is essentially a mining based energy
industry with a much more labor driven, job producing, economy saving
sustainable energy industry, then action must be taken now. We are
in danger of yet again killing existing renewable energy businesses,
and all current progress, and then slipping back into the no progress
doldrums like those following the oil shortages of the 1970's.
The best cure for stagflation is increasing productivity. The best
currently available means for increasing productivity on a global
scale is the building of a renewable energy infrastructure. Further,
we need to conserve fossil fuel reserves as chemical feed stocks for
industry and agriculture or we are headed for additional economic
crises down the road. We further need much more energy to combat the
coming water crises. Now is the time for decisive action.
I hope our governments, especially the new US government, can have
the vision to sustain current energy prices with a flexible tax
structure designed to do so, and use the revenues to support research
and deployment of renewable energy technologies.
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
