Oil Glut and Oil Crisis

The Times series on the high costs of the oil glut provides a valuable public service. It could be instrumental in launching a renewed debate on the need for a consistent national energy policy.

In Woutat’s thorough and well-written journey through the arcane world of oil cartels and conflicting national policies he brought the consequences of complacency to life: a possible repeat of the ‘70s.

Woutat correctly noted that many of the successes resulting from the ‘70s scramble for alternatives and greater energy efficiency have been endangered by cheap oil. The state’s wind industry is but one of many examples.

Wind energy currently provides 1% of the state’s electricity--a state with 10% of the nation’s population and the world’s sixth largest economy. This is a staggering sum when considering that the world’s first commercial wind power plants were built only in 1981.

But the state’s full potential (easily 10%) will not be realized unless all costs--both economic and environmental--of competing sources are incorporated into the price of energy. Currently, conventional sources are subsidized at the expense of wind and solar in part because the cost of pollution is not accounted for. Only when these costs, estimated to range from 1 cent to 14 cents per kilowatt-hour, are included can wind and solar compete fairly with conventional sources.

PAUL GIPE

West Coast Representative

American Wind Energy Assn.

Tehachapi