A confluence of circumstances promised to make 2008 a transformative year for renewable energy in the U.S. States enacted additional, and more demanding, renewable portfolio standards, promoting accelerated and sustained development of "green" energy resources. Increasing concerns about global warming and climate change prompted some of this activity. However, the unprecedented escalation of oil prices to almost $150 a barrel (translating into prices at the pump in excess of $4) was the largest impetus for demands that this nation end its addiction to fossil fuels.
The concluding months of 2008 were marked by even greater volatility in oil prices: a decline of over $100 a barrel, to lows not experienced in half a decade and not expected ever to be seen again. This drop in oil prices provides obvious economic benefits; the greater danger is that we allow this transitory price relief to again divert us from the national imperative to reduce our dependence on oil.
The current circumstances are very reminiscent of the latter decades of the last century. The emergence of OPEC and continued Middle East tensions in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in the price of oil climbing from historic levels of under $5 a barrel to then-unbelievable heights approaching $40 a barrel. The era of gas stations offering a free six-pack of Coke as an inducement to fill up with 29 cent a gallon gasoline would be no more.
The Moral Equivalent of War
Within a few months after his inauguration, President Jimmy Carter explained the severity and consequences of the energy crisis to the American people: "With the exception of preventing war, [the energy crisis] is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes.... By acting now, we can control our future instead of letting the future control us.... Further delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation.... Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people.... This difficult effort will be the ‘moral equivalent of war.’ "
Congress responded by enacting the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act to spur development of nonfossil fuel generation resources and thereby reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It also enacted the Natural Gas Policy Act, which removed price controls on natural gas. State legislators and regulatory commissions initiated similar programs designed to promote alternative energy development, energy conservation, and demand response programs.
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