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Show for a new policy The growing shortages of oil and natural gas in the U.S. are not due to exhaustion of the earth's resources. They are largely traceable to tax and regulatory mismanagement - in other words, lack of a coherent national energy policy. A top authority of the oil industry reports we have 45 billion barrels of oil reserves. He adds that, '...geologists tell us there are about 100 billion more to be found. We have on hand about 280 trillion cubic feet of gas. Geologists . - tell us there : are some 700 trillion cubic feet of gas yet to be found. There are billions of barrels of oil locked up in the shale rock of Colorado and Utah. Many more billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of gas are yet to be coaxed forth from our vast coal deposits.' He then asked, 'What kind of policy ...is needed to draw forth these vast treasures of energy? I have a simple although rather revolutionary solution: we should adopt a policy which permits a return to marketplace pricing ....I seem to recall that many years ago a number num-ber of apparently responsible people believed that the hidden hand of capitalism, directed by the relationship of prices, allocated scarce resources resour-ces and directed capital to meet the needs of people. Some people even believed that this unseen hand served its purpose well and played a part in creating the most dynamic economy the world has ever known.' The oil industry is taking many steps to encourage energy conservation. But in the long run, the real solution to the energy shortage is a genuine renewal of faith in the American system - and respect for its capabilities. The first step toward that renewal should be the . formulation of a realistic national energy policy. |