Manufacturing firms in the U.S. are moving overseas because energy costs here have put them at a significant disadvantage. Consumers are spending more on gasoline and home heating with many having little extra in the budget to cover the additional expenses. There is an estimated 400 trillion cubic feet of natural gas on the outer continental shelf that we refuse to harvest. This is enough energy to power a hundred million homes for the next 60 years. This is the bridge I mentioned earlier. Solar power is expanding rapidly but solar has been the victim of its own success as high demand has led to escalating costs of polysilicon used to make the devices. Wind energy is now as cheap as coal yet many folks simply don’t want to look at a wind farm in the back yard. Environmental groups have filed suits to stop expansion of California wind farms as they can harm migratory birds. New technology comming on line will reduce this unfortunate impact from an otherwise very clean source of energy.

I fear the price of oil will hit triple digits with gasoline in the $5 to $6 per gallon range in the comming years. U.S. refining capacity is at 96% which means we will have to import gasoline in the comming years. The clean energy revolution is comming but I just don’t think it will come fast enough to avoid real shortages of oil and gas. Maybe $5 gas will kickstart that revolution but at the expense of numerous politicians and the U.S. economy. I’m simply trying to see the big picture here.