published in the PortlandOregonian, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Albuquerque Journal, San Diego Union Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, Hartford Courant, Casper (WY) Star-Tribune, Keene (NH) Sentinel and Arkansas Gazette between April and June, 2001
Blackouts roil California. Gas prices shock the Midwest. High heating bills rattle New England.
A plaintive cry goes up across the land: "Who moved my energy?"
Our energy debate is remarkably similar to Spencer Johnson's popular allegory, "Who Moved My Cheese?"
In this story, when two mice living in a maze exhaust their supply of cheese, they quickly set off to look for more. But when two people in the same maze run out of food, they can't understand why it happened, aren't prepared to move on, whine about unfairness, keep looking in the same place for more and fail to adapt until extinction looms.
The book spins a fable about the problems people can have coping with change. Societies confront the same sorts of issues. Our energy dilemma is a prime example.
Why it happened: We possess 2.8 percent of the world's proven oil reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, yet we consume 25 percent of the world's total production. Does that condemn us to dependency on foreign oil? You do the math. And don't forget to figure in the equivalent of 339 million barrels of oil our "energy strapped" nation actually exported in 1999.
Failure to move on: You'd think that after getting hit by two oil price shocks, fighting the Gulf War and watching our dependence on foreign oil climb to 56 percent of our consumption, our leaders would be looking for alternatives to oil. Nope. We're sitting here digging into the same mound of cheese, even as it grows smaller and our appetite grows bigger daily. Just look at President Bush's plan to tap the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--for less than a six-month supply of oil that won't even be available for seven to 12 years. The president views more than just this refuge, created by another Republican, President Eisenhower, as game for oil development.
And, even though increases in fuel efficiency over time could "produce" more oil than we import from OPEC countries, Congress continues to block such efforts.
Whining about unfairness: In "Who Moved My Cheese?" the people feel entitled to their supply, regardless of how little they've done to conserve it. We have Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, who views driving gas-guzzling vehicles as an entitlement: "The American people have a right to drive a great big road hog SUV if they want to," he said in an interview with Roll Call magazine last month. "And I'm gonna get me one." Contrast this with President Theodore Roosevelt, the great Republican conservationist, who said that the efficient use of resources is a moral and patriotic obligation.
Failing to look in new directions: President Bush has said we're in an energy crisis, but he moved to cut the budget for renewable solar energy research by 50 percent. Wind energy is getting the same bum's rush, while billions of dollars are thrown at such boondoggles as "clean coal." The administration also rolled back an energy efficiency standard for air conditioners that could have saved the equivalent output of 50 medium-sized power plants.
Sensible "mice" are adapting: While U.S. leaders keep wondering who moved our energy, Holland now gets 15 percent of its power from the wind, and Denmark 13 percent. (We get less than 1 percent.) Iceland is converting completely to hydrogen fuel cells. Using technology America developed, but has ignored, Spain is building huge solar-power plants. Toyota and Honda are marketing hybrid-engine cars that achieve more than 60 mpg.
In reality, of course, nobody moved the cheese and nobody moved our energy. Problems arose because of a lack of foresight, a foolish sense of entitlement and old habits that have failed. The real crisis we face is a lack of political leadership that can move us from old to new ways of thinking about energy.
Instead of focusing on polluting, diminishing fossil fuels, we need to get serious about clean, renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency. In the long run we could save our environment, lead the world in high-technology solutions, and not have to worry about anybody "moving" anything.
