It’s really nice to see gas prices continue to soar. I hope we hit $6 or $7 per gallon by the end of the decade. I say this because Americans get kind of lazy when things are going well, but when faced with real and complex problems, the innovation kicks in and great ideas are born, and people go to work and the old ways disappear overnight.

We live in a beautiful country with sunshine, wind, rivers, tides, and other energy sources we have not even thought of yet. Very soon, coal, oil and ethanol use will be about as fashionable as smoking on a plane or using an outhouse. There are people who already see the future and have begun to work out the problems in labs, garages and barns.
Sure, there are plenty of folks who say it will be too expensive, no one will like new energy, it will be a hassle, and we’ll all face a lower standard of living. These are the same people who laughed at the horseless carriage, laughed at the Wright brothers and chuckled at the first Toyota Prius.

We’ll build a new segment of our economy around advanced energy. Charge your fully electric vehicle by plugging it in, supplemented by the solar panel on your roof, and new batteries will give you a 1,000-mile range between nightly recharges. It sounds strange and expensive now, but it’s only as far away as making up our minds and putting it into mass production. There will be new jobs, and most importantly, new benefits for all people.

 

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