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Change is always a difficult proposition. The maintenance of the status quo is akin to the path of least resistance. Far easier is it to grasp at straws to uphold the relics of the past than it is to embrace the unknown. For that is the real problem the United States faces today with regards to energy policy. Unbridled fear of the unknown. Natural resources are the life blood of any nation state and petroleum courses through more veins in this nation than anyone would care to admit. The standard energy policy in the United States over the past century, when the switch from animal oils to petroleum was made, has lead to rapid economic growth; that much is true. But, for every action, there is a corresponding opposite reaction. The United States' rapid growth has sewn the seeds of tyranny, imperialism, global warming, human rights violations, wanton nationalism and wars of choice, just to name a few negative scenarios. So why have the actions of the citizens of the United States not matched the ascendant rhetoric about freedom, liberty, justice and opportunity? Why have the words spoken so much louder than the actions? Why has the beacon of liberty the world over been eclipsed by the din of unfulfilled political promises?

The obvious reason is that the standard of living in the United States, the economy and the dollar have been propped up by subsides. Tax dollars of hard working Americans being directly funneled into satiating a doomed system. Profits at oil companies remain high and prices the consumer pays at the pump remain low. On the surface everyone wins, the system may continue.

The truth of the matter is that everyone, the corporations, the government and the common citizen alike are in fact losing. When subsides are in effect which vitiate the free market system the harsh reality the nation is capable of overcoming is shrouded in a fantasy. The problem is not presented to rational adults as it really exists. The citizenry is presented with a sugar coated version that prompts no real action. The corporation is not forced to innovate as their profits remain high and their shareholders do not demand it. Shareholder's do not demand anything of the corporations they are invested in because the profits remain high. This type of circular reasoning merely shifts wealth around while the nation pretends nothing is wrong and stagnates.

When the nation stagnates, everyone is effected and every sector cannot escape the rot. The infrastructure is failing, the foreign

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