No Shortage Of Energy, Just Technology
May 28, 1975
Gasoline continues its relentless march to $1 per gallon and still Congress ducks the issue in hope the President, by himself, will make the unpopular decisions necessary to solve the energy crisis.

President Gerald Ford has responded with the usual governmental tactic for every problem - another tax.

An additional $1 tariff on each barrel of foreign crude oil hopefully will dampen the appetite of Americans for expensive automobile fuel.

We are assured that this will warn the Shah of Iran and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that we will black-ball their output of oil.

But the Shah only smiles indulgently. He knows better than we our addiction to the automobile and the fuel that makes it go. He knows that our threats to boycott Arabian oil are whistling in the wind.

The Shah was in Washington, D. C., last week, upon the invitation of the President, in expectation his Imperial Majesty could be appeased.

No dice.

Even while he was wined and dined royally by government officials he coolly announced the oil cartel would meet in September to raise prices again. The tab? Another $2 per barrel which equates to 8 cents per gallon of gasoline.

Congress blew the brave front planned for the Shah by adjourning without doing one, solitary thing about energy.

The Democrats roundly condemned President Ford's tariff approach to the oil problem last February when he applied the first $1 per barrel tax on foreign crude. The Democrats promised their own "Tough" energy conservation program.

In the end, the Democrats were afraid to make public their internal dissension. The fact is that the Democrats are more badly divided than the hapless Republicans.

The 70 or so liberal congressmen elected for the first time following the Watergate debacle have Congress in an uproar. Veteran lawmakers call them "the crazies." This new breed of solon literally does not know what it is doing.

One congressman told me recently, "They devote most of their time opposing the plans of the committee chairmen and the elected leaders of the two parties. They are more interested in fighting the 'establishment' than in solving problems."

In the oil situation, the freshmen congressmen want to close down the private energy companies - apparently in a desire to punish big corporations for trying to make a profit. No alternative is proposed, although government ownership is implied.

This indecision was not lost on the Shah of Iran. He did not hesitate to declare on the network TV show "Meet the Press" that, "I can tell you if the price of oil, even today, was not low, you would have already developed other sources of energy."

Ohio Governor James Rhodes shares the Shah's contempt for Congress in meeting the oil crisis.

At a private dinner last week, Rhodes castigated the U.S. Congress and the Ohio Assembly for sitting on their duffs while the energy crisis worsens.

"I know some people laugh at my harping on the necessity of jobs. But that's the only answer to all our problems. We have high unemployment and it is simply because the politicians try to solve problems with tax dollars instead of jobs," said Rhodes.

"Right now we have an energy shortage backing up unemployment. The politicians' response is a request for more welfare money from the federal government.

"What we need," said the governor, "Is some money for technical development of new energy sources. When we get the energy we will create more jobs and we won't need welfare hand outs."

Governor Rhodes is seeking a $21 million grant from Congress to develop vast oil shale deposits in southern Ohio. "We can't get those guys in Washington to give us the money for a vital energy source, but they just spent $8 million on the Washington, D.C. Zoo."

Not only is the governor having trouble convincing Congress of the need for energy research and development, the Ohio legislature likewise has refused Rhodes' proposal for a state energy bill. Characteristically, however, Rhodes is taking his energy and jobs program directly to the people for a vote this fall.

Rhodes and Ford are on the right track. There is no shortage of energy - just the technology and will to get at it.

There is enough oil in shale and enough coal to last the nation for 300 years. The solar energy that falls on Lake Erie is sufficient to run all the electric motors in the United States. Nuclear power is limitless.

Our salvation from the present energy shortage lies with the scientists and engineers - not government.