In search of energy security

This week, the American people will get a chance to see if their senators are prepared finally to go beyond mere rhetoric and actually do something consequential about a problem 90 percent of those polled in a recent survey now regard as “serious”: U.S. dependence upon imported oil.

Especially if, as some believe — including lately several major oil companies — we are at or nearing “peak oil” (the point at which supply of at least the most valuable and most accessible oil begins declining), these competing demands will surely translate into higher energy costs for this country and perhaps even conflict.