Close your eyes, now try to imagine a world with no energy. --- Imagine waking up at about 6 to begin your day. You reach for the light switch and realize it is not working. You scatter around the house for a light source, you even reach for a flashlight. BUT wait no batteries. The only form of light that you will receive comes from that one small candle you are forced to use. You have wasted half your morning looking for light that you must rush to your car. As you begin to drive you realize, "almost empty, better refuel" but the local gas stations display signs that say NO GAS- CLOSED PERMANENTLY. You must abandon your car on the side of the street. It is useless to you now. So you begin to walk to your work which takes you one hour to do. You have now reached your job and once inside you still are forced to wipe the sweat from your face-- you see there is no air-conditioner. AND on your desk hundreds of files that you must sort out replace your computer. You finally end a hard day at work, walk home once more. Hungry, you try to put some food in the microwave but wait you forgot no energy. So you end your day dirty, tired, and hungry, only to go to sleep and do it all again tomorrow. Now you see it would be very difficult to live without energy. Energy is a vital part of life. Energy is so important that it makes me think what is the future for energy.
With an increase in population comes an increase in electric and chemical power consumption. With now over 6 billion people on earth, how will we provide power to the people? The current largest sources of energy are the combustion of coal, oil and natural gas. They will last quite a while but will probably run out or become harmful in tens to hundreds of years. In President Bush's State of the Union address, he called for an energy policy which includes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. WE do not have to succumb to this. It is time to "go out with the old and in with the new".