It has been a year now since the term "energy crisis" burst into our vocabulary. To most of us, it meant sitting in a line for gasoline and hoping that we would make it to the pump. To some of us, it meant "dialing down" the heat in our homes and a hefty increase in our electric bills. But with the spring came the thaw. Gasoline was once more plentiful—no more lines and fearful waits. We turned off the heat and enjoyed the sunshine. Our electric bills were still high and prices of everything else seemed on the increase, too, but it was great to climb into the car once more and let the engine roar. We were back to normal again.The energy crisis was over.

I wish that it were so, but it is not. The Arab oil embargo was lifted, but we still face a snarl of critical energy problems. H.G. Wells once wrote that "the crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow." I would like to think he might be right, but I cannot believe that it will happen in this case.