Electrical

Not terribly far from where these words are written one can find farms and fields tilled by the Amish, individuals who have largely avoided the advantages of modern living. No TVs, light bulbs or computers can be found in Amish households. They are, as the expression goes, "off the grid" -- a fate shared by many in the Northeast and Canada during the past few days.

There are certainly lessons to be learned from the blackout of '03. We're lucky this hasn't happened more often, it's obvious it could happen again and if we don't change our energy policies then the blacked-out house-of-the-future with all it's electronics and appliances will not offer much comfort or advantage when compared with homes from the 1880s.

The value of what we call real estate -- meaning houses, condos and such -- is that it represents better living then caves, tents, and lean-tos. Some of that value is in the form of shelter, but there is a huge difference between bare-bones housing and a place with a clothes washer, dryer, microwave, air conditioner, central heat and a home office. Those conveniences, those necessities, bind us to the power system. If the local power system is unreliable or fails, people will move elsewhere and property values will decline -- a matter of great importance to anyone who owns a home.

We have a growing need for energy at the right place, at the right price and with suitable environmental standards. If cost were not an object, we could convert coal into oil -- we have about half of the world's supply. We could obtain energy from Colorado shale -- during World War II the Japanese navy was fueled with oil from Manchurian shale. Canada could supply vast quantities of energy from oil sands. We have enormous volumes of methane in the form of pressurized brine under the Gulf of Mexico. And, amazingly, we are a major producer of oil in our own right.

But there are problems.