Blaine

Thursday Outlook: Range-Bound Trading

The oil embargo began during the Nixon administration, which did absolutely nothing and neither did Gerald Ford's. When Jimmy Carter became president, he installed solar panels atop the White House. He also championed nuclear power. He taxed oil company profits to fund renewable energy research. He created the U.S. Department of Energy. He introduced America to ethanol. Oil imports plummeted during the Carter administration. Renewable energy research skyrocketed.

Pres. Carter submitted a 104-page energy plan to Congress with 113 specific proposals. Builders were required to use more insulation. Appliances, refrigerators in particular, became more energy-efficient. Homeowners received tax credits to heat water with solar power and the speed limit was lowered to 55 mph to conserve gasoline.

Carter boosted renewable fuel usage from 6 percent to 7 percent of the nation's energy demands. Oil used to generate electricity disappeared.

But Ronald Reagan soon began killing off many of Carter's energy initiatives. Reagan halved the Energy Department's conservation and alternative fuels budget. Spending on photovoltaic research dropped by two-thirds. Under Reagan, Energy tax credits for homeowners disappeared. Reagan rolled back fuel-efficiency standards for cars and he had the solar panels atop the White House taken down.

Today United States imports 12 million barrels of oil daily, or 60 percent of the amount consumed. Oil and gas prices are skyrocketing. The US imports twice as much oil as it did during Carter's final year in office. Ethanol, biodiesel, solar and other alternative fuels supply no more energy than they did in 1980. And the Bush administration has given no consideration to any action that would correct our growing crisis of energy.