Our Energy Future: The Strategic Initiative of Our Era

Do you buy Mr. Cheney’s argument that drilling in Anwar is the solution to the world’s looming energy crisis? You won’t after listening to this informative program on a subject that could not be more important or timely. Michael Klare is an historian of war, and his studies have led him to focus on oil and the dwindling energy resources available to an increasing number of users. The U. S. is a long-time big producer and guzzler of the black gold, but China and India are among the countries accelerating down the same trail and we’re all competing for an about to diminish pool of energy in some very unstable areas of the world. Klare sees unsettling similarities to the situation in the Balkans before WWI. In barely skimming the surface of his book, “Blood and Oil,” he provides a cogent summary of the current energy situation and future outlook. It’s enough to keep you awake at night. Fortunately, this is a bad news/good news hour, and Dan Carol, a progressive optimist, offers some encouraging signs from the Apollo Alliance, which he describes as a “Rehab center for paleo liberal groups and causes.” The Alliance is stirring a pot of labor unions, environmental groups, governors and some business organizations, attempting to create a major national investment in clean energy and jobs. Does it make sense to invest a few hundred billion in growing our own gasoline? Or should we spend a few hundred billion more to put our young people at risk in yet another Middle Eastern country? Help your listeners think about the future by airing this valuable hour.