United States isn't energy-poor nation

The term disinformation should be applied to much that is said about our so-called energy crisis.

The U.S. is not an energy-poor country.

We have vast supplies of coal and natural gas, probably the best developed in the world. We are still finding large amounts of oil, though it is not as inexpensive to produce as it once was.

We still have a lot of areas within our own boundaries to safely explore if given the opportunity.

We have the best pipeline system for transporting supplies throughout the country.

Alternative energy options are moving forward though the timeline economics, and necessary infrastructure for these are yet to be determined.

We will have to pay more for fuel, but no more than countries in Europe have been paying for years.

As we have seen in the last few days, commodity prices including oil still respond to the law of supply and demand.

Prices go up; prices go down accordingly.

Short term, this may seem irrational and is influenced by sentiment and speculation, but over extended periods of time, the economics prevail and the speculators are washed out.

For the most part, the politicians make a mistake when they try to legislate quick fixes. The government sponsorship of Ethanol will likely prove this argument.

Still, we have not experienced the kind of long lines at the pump and the out-of-gas filling stations that were commonplace back in the '70s.

On a comparative basis, I have not been able to buy a good 5-cent cup of coffee in years. Would you believe people are paying over $2 a cup in many places? Outrageous. Now that's one commodity we won't be able to grow ourselves out of.

I guess we will all have to switch to Postum if the South American countries stop selling us their coffee beans. That will really constitute a crisis for our country.

James Mooney

Arlington Heights