I like the way this guy thinks, at least from what I’ve seen of him so far. Fareed Zakaria’s latest NewsWeek article is interesting: How to Escape the Oil Trap.

I agree 100%. I cannot understand, to any extent, except for reasons of corruption or laziness, why the US has not been pushing more for energy efficiency.

There are so many positives from doing it:
- Lots of local jobs
- Less dependence of unsavoury foreign countries
- Better for the environment

And only one “downside” I can see
- Less money coming to politicians from oil companies

But if you assume this is a free country wouldn’t the politicians be able to get the same amount of kickbacks from the new energy producers? Why don’t the current “energy” (ie: oil) companies get on the bandwagon themselves? They could probably even charge more for energy that’s produced “efficiently” in the long run.

Laziness and corruption. Two ultimately powerful forces.