...In today’s paper, the special section, 20 Burning Questions, explains the concept of peak oil. It refers to the time after which the oil that’s being pumped out of the ground can no longer rise to meet the needs of an increasingly industrialized, congested and demanding world.

The situation is out of control, but we don’t notice until prices at the gasoline pump spike. Presently, gas at $2.79 a gallon seems like a bargain. That speaks eloquently to how high prices have risen in the matter of just a few months. We all would have been squawking “price gouging!” three years ago if gasoline had exceeded even $2 a gallon. But the reality is that it’s still a relatively cheap fuel source.


And that’s good and bad. Good, because it makes the freedom of travel attainable for most Americans. Bad, because the affordability of gas lulls us into a false comfort and saps our motivation to gain control of the situation.

Ultimately, that control won’t come from the discovery of new oil reserves or from our influence in the Middle East. It can come only from good old American ingenuity. With our combination of natural resources, scientific inquiry and technical know-how — combined with a healthy dose of financial motivation — we can put alternative fuel development on the fast track.