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Lights Out for Renewable Energy?

Posted by: Michael Dudley

30 October 2008 - 1:00pm

David Morris of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance wonders if the economic crisis will see alternative energy fall off the political agenda, or if the next president will recognize the economic benefits of renewable energy investments.

"In August...the price of oil was about $135 a barrel. Gasoline prices had eclipsed $4 a gallon. Natural gas prices hovered around $11 per million BTUs. SUVs sales were down, but car companies were having some trouble keeping up with the demand for smaller cars [and] Renewable energy was expanding rapidly.

What a difference 60 days make! The price of oil has now dropped by more than 50 percent to just over $60 a barrel. The price of natural gas has declined in similar fashion. Nationally, gasoline prices have plummeted by about $1.30 a gallon. In Pittsburg, Kan., one can buy gasoline for under $2 a gallon.

The context for energy policy has changed dramatically. This happened once before, in 1981...just as the first wave of local, state and national energy activism peaked and crashed. Two factors caused the crash. One was political: the election of Ronald Reagan, a man who saw government as the problem, never the solution. He shut down as many alternative energy programs as he could. The second factor was the collapse of the economy. In 1981, world trade contracted for the first time since 1931.

Will energy history repeat itself in 2009?"

Full Story: Will the Economic Crash Take Down Our Hopes for Clean Energy?
Source: AlterNet, October 29, 2008
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