late. The ensuing consumer rush of purchasing energy saving items is comparable to “closing the barn door after the horse gets out”. The majority of Americans do not try to save energy, then when a mild drought comes, like the one last spring, the United States has a major problem on their hands. In the northwest, there is an agreement between Washington State and California. The agreement is that in the summer Washington sells all its extra electricity to California, and in the winter, California sells all its extra electricity back to Washington. The drought that hit the northwest was no major problem for Washington or Oregon, but when California’s conservation efforts came up short they did not have any extra electricity to sell to Washington. Instead, Washington and Oregon had to sell electricity to California, which caused Washington and Oregon to drop into their own energy crisis. Thus causing a ripple effect across the entire northwestern United States.The more serious problems are the long-term effects of our energy consumption. Americans continue to use fossil fuels, which are non-replenishable resources. Fossil fuels also, release toxins such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which combine with other gases to form what is called Greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are so named because they work like the glass in a greenhouse: They permit sunlight to enter but prevent heat from escaping. Many scientists believe a buildup of greenhouse gases is causing global warming, the gradual heating of the atmosphere. Now don’t be worried about using up all of the oil right away, there is estimated to be about 73 billion barrels in North America. However, only a small fraction of this can be extracted at current prices. Of the known oil reserves that can be profitably extracted at current prices, more than half are in the Middle East: only a small fraction are in North America. At the end of the 20th century, th...
