Energy Policies
Put Future at Risk
by Alex Wilson
Every year or so, the editors of this
fine publication make the mistake of
letting me write a column on the
energy picture-the big picture. I'm
allowed to abandon, for a moment,
the usually down-to-earth nature of
my columns in favor of prediction
and opinion. I promise to return next
month to more practical day-to-day
matters.
Backsliding
But this is an interesting time to be
looking at the energy picture. Our
dependence on foreign oil has
increased dramatically in the last few
years. We currently import about 40
percent of our oil, up from 33
percent in 1973 (just before the
OPEC oil embargo). The Reagan
Administration predicts that our
dependence on foreign oil