The OPEC oil embargo of the early 1970s and the ensuing increase in gas prices created lines at gas stations that literally stretched for blocks and highlighted the very real threat to our national and economic security caused by our dependency on foreign oil. The issue was of paramount political importance and, for a time, it seemed we were united to solve that problem.
In reaction to and as protection against that threat, two things happened: 1) there was strong political support for more efficient technologies, including alternative energy sources; and 2) there was a concerted effort by U.S. oil companies to open up other sources of domestic oil production......sounding familiar?
The Alaska pipeline opened on this day in 1977 and was promised to supply something like 10% of our nation's oil demand. Now, some 31 years later, with the same threats to our national and economic security again at the forefront, we're hearing the same arguments. Had we maintained a concerted effort since 1977 to develop alternative energy, we might very well have licked this problem by now. Instead, we let "free market capitalists" convince us that alternative energy was not viable and that, somehow, continued dependence on a finite and non-renewable resource was the better road. I submit, on this anniversary, that we learn our lesson, finally. Big Oil wants us to drill because it perpetuates our dependency and their profit model. As a nation, we simply cannot afford to be that short sighted ....again.