In other words, the "energy shortage" is a crock.
Offhand, it is difficult to visualize the implications. Once the reality of the situation is understood, there are several things that become evident. For example, why is the US government spending billions on a "Department of Energy"? In fact, there is no more need for such a federal bureaucracy than there would be for a "Department of Blue Jeans", a "Department of Hair Tonic", or a "Department of Spicy Foods". Our government is run by human beings, and they don't think about things any more than the rest of us -- less, in fact. If establishing a bureaucracy seemed like a popular thing to do and might be good for some votes, they'll do it -- and did. So, even though energy is simply a commodity like anything else and there's no end of the supply in the foreseeable future, we have a federal bureaucracy to deal with it.
Here's another implication: Just why did we have a federally-mandated 55 mph speed limit for two decades? There's no real shortage of energy; what else could justify it? Well, there are at least two possible answers, air pollution and traffic safety -- both real concerns. But these were not the reasons for the speed limit. It was originally instituted to save energy, and it has now been abolished due to an effort to reduce federal meddling in state and local concerns -- not due to the realization that the original rationale was erroneous.
Here in Florida we have a Unified Building Code that, among
other things, specifies energy conservation measures that are required
by state law to be incorporated into all buildings under
construction. This collection of requirements has a long and
colorful history, but in summation it can be noted that no energy
conservation requirement in it has ever been eliminated or
moderated. Each and every legislator that has ever addressed
these requirements has sought to make the requirements more stringent,
whether it made any sense or not. It's simply the way to be seen
by voters as doing something good for the world.
As a result, the requirements -- which shouldn't even exist - are
sometimes overblown to the point of absurdity. For example, they
require the use of heating and air conditioning equipment
so energy-efficient as to be far beyond economically worthwhile, and
some major manufacturers have had to produce special Florida-only
equipment
to meet the code; other manufacturers have simply abandoned the Florida
market.
Despite the high-efficiency units being in production, they don't sell
in other
states simply because they cost more to buy than they will ever save in
energy
costs.
Besides the cost of such equipment, add the fact that the paperwork required to meet these code requirements adds hundreds of dollars to each construction project, and you have a classic waste of taxpayers' and citizens' money.
We even have something called the Florida Solar Energy Center, a state-funded research facility dedicated to encourage the use of solar power instead of other, cheaper sources. Why? As we now know, there is no good reason. This facility is full of good, hard-working people being paid good tax dollars to do what nobody needs done.
There are many good reasons to minimize one's use of energy. Among the biggest is the fact that energy costs money. There is also the fact that many uses of energy result in pollution, and minimizing pollution is always a good idea. But if the objective is to minimize pollution or to save money, let's recognize those facts and base our decisions accordingly. Let's all quit making decisions, passing laws, creating bureaucracies, and otherwise complicating life due to an "energy shortage". There is no such thing.
Back to the 1973 Oil Embargo
Back to Petroleum: a limited resource
Back to Alternative Fuels
Back to Military/National Defense impacts
Back to What the future will bring
Back to the introduction
Return to Kirby Palm's home page.
Of course, if you have questions or comments, you are welcome to send e-mail to me at palmk@nettally.com.