Historical Ironies

9.27.08

Recently, I have been reading the 1999 publication of ECO.org's publication: Environmental Careers in the 21st Century. I'm aware that some of the information in this book is out of date, but nonetheless, the book offers a great deal of advice for aspiring environmentalists.

This particular passage in chapter 10 dedicated to energy caught my attention:

"By the early 1970's, however, America's energy picture was changing rapidly. The 1973 oil embargo shook America's confidence in limitless supply of inexpensive oil from foreign lands. For drivers of the time, the long lines of cars waiting to fill up became a legendary symbol of an insecure energy future. The 1978 revolution in Iran was another reality check for the nation, forcing Americans to recognize that our energy supplies were global and not wholly under our control. If further proof were needed, the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq proved beyond a doubt that oil was America's lifeblood-so vital that we would go to war to protect our Persian Gulf supplies."

Please refer back to the publishing date of this book; 1999 is well before 2001 and 2003.