Introduction

Abstract

We drive to the gas station to purchase fuel for our automobile. Heating oil is delivered automatically to our home to keep us warm through the winter. We do not stop to think about the raw materials that go into the plastics that make so many of the goods we consume. Nor do we dwell on the amount of fuel used to cultivate our food or bring it to market. As a matter of fact, we think little about energy until we are shocked by the displacements and damage caused by a major energy industry calamity. Unfortunately, when such a calamity occurs, we then seek simple explanations, despite our complicity in our increasingly desperate demand for energy.