Dear Editor,
In the late 1970's, this country was going through an energy crisis much like today's. More than 40 percent of the nation's consumption of oil was bought from outside countries. Prices (along with the inflation and unemployment) were skyrocketing to untold numbers. At the same time, the Iranian hostage crisis was occuring; the relevence is that America froze all Iranian assets, so no oil was coming in from Iran, creating a greater dependence on other countries for oil consumption.
Americans are the least efficient citizens of this planet; we take long showers, use great amounts of electricity, drive around just for fun, ect. Americans are also whiners; they claim the freedom that they fight for (a.k.a. to do whatever they want), the right to protection/support from the government, and to not have to pay for it (a.k.a. taxes). Reality does not work that way; it's not practical. The people see short term gains while the government sees long term losses (such as excessive spending, excessive consuption of energy, ect.).
Alternative energy sources were being considered, the most likely being nuclear. This was the case until the meltdown of the nuclear powerplant at Three Mile High Island. The only problem with nuclear energy was that the government was not watching closely enough to prevent the disaster; afterwards, regulations were put into place and disasters were averted. In other words, there was a problem with the nuclear energy but it was solved, so the usage of it should be acceptable. Although, this disaster is homologous to the many oil rig disasters such as the Exxon Mobile and the current (and worst) one in the Gulf of Mexico, but the people do not care as much about these disasters; the reason for this is because of the name of the energy. At the time, (and even a bit today) the Cold War was in the minds of every American, and the thought of a nuclear disaster did not sit right with the people; the idea of using the same, "safe" source of energy that they have been using since the invention of the home heating systems is a more comforting thought.
President Carter asked the American people to try and conserve energy in this crisis, and they refused. I would not support his ideas, but only for the reason that it is a "perfect" solution that would not be approved by the people, therefore it would not (did not) work. His heart was in the right place, but the people were, as they always will be, whiners.
Sincerely,
Justin Glass
