Cool answers to the energy crunch

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Gone with the wind and reports of the demise of sail are greatly exaggerated are examples of ways companies are trying to solve the energy crunch, instead of relying on the government to step in. While I understand that government needs to step in sometimes to remedy our economic problems. I am still a believer in the invisible hand of economics. And that force will cause people and companies to adjust, whether they like it or not. And I think that the current world wide energy crunch is doing just that. People and companies world wide are starting to think of new and different ways of doing things.

As someone who grew up in the 70's and 80's I have seen the cycle of boom and bust when it comes to energy consumption. I remember Jimmy Carter telling us all to set the thermostat to 68 degrees. And I have seen the explosion of the uber SUV's. And I knew that the era of the huge cars could not last, any more than the era of the huge luxury cars could last. While our culture has improved it still has a long way to go when it comes to efficient energy consumption. But reading articles like these makes me think that we are headed in the right direction. And in this case it is not the force of big government that is doing it, it is the force of economics that is making people realize they have to find a better way.