Anril 1978 RAIN Page J7 Silly President Carter! President Carter has said that the energy crisis is the moral equivalent of war. This is silly. He is confusing unimportant things with important things. We use a great deal of oil. It won't last forever. To think that having or not having the luxuries provided by oil is something that can be equated with war doesn't make good sense. Unfortunately it is true that a spoiled country, misled by short-sighted leaders, could start a war, not over important matters but only the question of a few luxuries. Should we feel guilty about our consumption of oil? Why feel guilty? If you do the simple solution is to stop using it. Let those who want to use it continue to do so as long as they can pay for it. We drilled for oil, we found it, we burned it, we have had a good time with it. What else can we expect of human beings? And, of course, the oil party won't last forever. Some people at the party are already feeling uncomfortable; most of the world would never even get near this extraordinary party. If you feel uncomfortable with the oil, you can live a life that doesn't depend on it. Do this and know that others will follow as the oil runs out. But don't try to ruin the party! It will only make bad feelings and unhappiness. Let the Cadillacs rule while they can. How can we live our lives without consuming huge quantities of oil? There are millions of Americans right now who don't use much oil and many of them are actually happy people. Cutting back on oil consumption is frightening only to people who have no imagination and no confidence. What should the national policy be about energy? There shouldn't be any national policy. No one has the wisdom to make one. Clearly, the armed forces need to stockpile large quantities of oil as thc supply becomes uncertain; but we do not need a Department of Energy. We do not need laws governing everything from the car you drive to the windows in your house. Won't we get in trouble without such laws? Some people certainly will. Foolish people will waste their money on inefficient cars and badly built houses; isn't that their business? For a number of years I have watched with amazement the U.S. government try to undermine and discredit successful solar heating systems. I have come to have a great distrust of government. When the Department of Energy gathers money from the taxpayers and hires energy experts to solve the energy crisis, it spends money in such a wasteful fashion that it only convinces the observer that there could be no oil shortages. These scientists and bureaucrats don't seem even to fle having any fun as they waste our money and oil. I'd rather see Cadillacs driving in circles. A few years ago our company, Zomeworks, tried to get money to perfect a simple solar heating system from the Washington energy experts (then they called themselves NSF). We were turned down. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Bonneville Power Electric Energy Conservation Study, July 1976 (NTIS 256766/SD), from: National Technical Information Service U.S. Dept. of Commerce Springfield, VA 22151 Stanford Research Institute for ERDA, Solar Energy in America's Future, Stock No. 060-000-00051-4, $2 from: Supt. of Documents U.S. Gov't. Printing Office Washington, DC 20402 Later, after we had built our solar-heated house, a Colorado engineer repeatedly tried to get money from the same group to instrument our house. He was told that our house wouldn't work and was turned down. ,/ Now, I tell myself, if I went to the latest energy experts in Washington, they would give our company money. They would almost have to. After all, now- despite the government - we have proved it works. But now I don't want their money. The lesson I learned is that the American public is a lot wiser than the experts hired by its elected ufficials. If you have something that works and will save people money, your neighbors will notice and will buy one for themselves. Leave people alone with enough wealth after they pay their taxes and they will invent, develop, trade with each other and do a good job of solving their own problems. For some reason, many Americans have lost faith in [hi old and very American tradition. It is a great shame that the so-called energy crisis is being used by politicians to increase taxes and laws-thereby taking away liberties Americans have previously enjoyed. Here is the beauty of free enterprise-if you don't want to buy something our company sells, you don't have to. If you don't want to buy what EXXON sells, you don't have to. But, try this simple experiment: explain to the Internal Revenue Service that you aren't going to pay the portion of your tax money that goes to the Department of Energy; government agents will come and take away your property. I know; I tried it during the Vietnam war. Behind every gentleman working on government research, whether it be solar energy or nuclear energy, stand the police. This is a great shame; I don't think the founders of our country had this relationship in mind. I predict that the Department of Energy will eventually home in on this project- how to water oil. JUSt as the government can water the money, diluting its val ue by pri nt ing more dollars, it will look for a similar way to grapple with the "Energy Crisis." As with the printing of money, this watering of oil will be carefully regulated. So far the oil and water dun't mix. - Steve Baer Wixom, Charles W., Application ofSolar Technology to Today's Needs, June 1977, from: Office of Technology Assessment U.S. Congress . Washington, DC 20510 Choosing an Electricial Energy Future for the Pacific Northwest: An Alternate Scenario , Roger Beers & Terry Lash, January 1977, $3 from : Natural Resources Defense Council. Inc. 234 Yale St. Palo Alto, CA 94306
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