Today on the radio I was listening to people on the air report on our energy supply and consumption levels over the next 25 years. The picture was quite grim. 

What I heard was that at our current rate of consumption and our rate, or lack thereof towards using more renewable energy sources such as wind and hydro, our costs for non-renewable energy can be expected to increase nearly 50% very quickly, like within just a few years. Imagine this world in a few years with gas at $10 per gallon.

Another disturbing report suggests that over the next 25 years, only about 10-15% of automobiles on the road will be hybrid and electric vehicles or something other than a gasoline-powered vehicle. I would have expected this number to be drastically higher.

These are but two examples of several that were all grim. 

What puzzles me is how difficult it is for someone like T. Boone Pickens to be struggling to implement change in the way we produce and consume energy in the United States. If anyone should be able to do it, Pickens is the one. (Some would disagree, vehemently).

Assuming that Pickens one day is able to implement his plan for America where we use Natural Gas for more of our transportation needs, thus reducing the amount of oil that we use, and then use more wind, solar, and hydro to make up for the energy hole left from shifting our use of natural gas, I believe we could turn things around. We would create jobs and it would give Americans something we can all believe in because we have everything to gain. In a way, it seems so obvious, and simple, like our energy future “lies beneath our feet”, as Boone says.

The choice is up to us, as citizens, defined by our actions. If we choose conservation and push for change as a people then we can achieve new heights. If we don’t stand up as a nation, then even people like T. Boone Pickens will be working in vain. 

I guess the ball is in your court now.