America's Electricity Future

Where will America's future electricity supply come from? According to Vice President Cheney's energy task force, the U.S. needs to build about one 1 GW generating facilty a week in perpetuity.$^{(1) }$What sort of facilities will they be? Can the economy sustain such growth? Are there other possibilities? One possibility that strikes a chord with physicists is conservation as a source of energy. In this regard, Vice President Cheney famously said that conservation is``a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis---all by itself---for a sound, comprehensive energy policy,''$^{(2)}$ echoing the Ayn Rand Instituite's view that ``Conservation is not a long- or short-term solution to the energy crisis. Conservation is the un-American idea of resigning oneself to doing with less.''$^{(3) }$This poster will explore the possible energy futures, their advantages and disadvantages, with and without conservation. 1. National Energy Policy Development Group (R. Cheney, C. L. Powell, P. O'Neill, G. Norton, A. M. Veneman, D. L. Evans, N. Y. Mineta, S. Abraham, J. M. Allbaugh, C. T. Whitman, J. B. Bolten, M. E. Daniels, L. B. Lindsey, and R. Barrales), \textit{National Energy Policy: Report of the National Energy Policy Development Group}, (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2001). 2. M. Allen, ``Bush energy plan will emphasize production,'' \textit{The Washington Post}, 1 May 2001 3. R. Pool, ``Saving power deemed immoral,'' \textit{The Los Angeles Times}, 12 May 2001.