The State of the State (of Energy)

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http://unplanning.blogspot.com/2006/02/state-of-state-of-energy_08.html

State of the State addresses, much like their federal counterpart are full of lofty goals and optimistic language while remaining ever short on useful specifics. Some speeches adopted overarching themes while others read like a shopping list. Visionary or idiotic (depending on your point of view) author Thomas Friedman provided the vision for not one but two State of the State Addresses this year. Both Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Mark Sanford of South Carolina succumbed to the vision of tomorrow painted by Friedman’s The World Is Flat (piece of) work.

While no governor utilized the President Bush “Addicted to Oil” line and only one (Delaware Governor Minner fixated on price gouging by the oil majors) made a really incoherent proposal in seeking to address the energy issue none really “got it” either.

No one acknowledged the issue of Peak Oil or the fact that North American natural gas supplies have slipped into decline. (Not a big surprise really).

No one discussed or contemplated the long term implications of even continued price increases in the cost of energy.

Not one made the connection that a decline in available energy was not only inevitable, but imminent. Many did at least acknowledge the importance of energy to the economy however.

And finally, not a single governor grasped the concept that unlimited growth (be it economic, transportation-wise or even population) is not possible without an unlimited amount of natural resources to support it.

[Wilms]

1. Good article. Thanks. n/t