If I said it once, I said it a thousand times: We'd better do something about America's vulnerable power grid before it's too late.
Is it my fault that nobody was paying attention?
Fine — so we've made it through the Great Blackout of 2003, and life is returning to normal. The consequences could have been even worse than they were, but that's no reason to pat ourselves on the back, not when two vital questions remain unresolved:
How could it have happened? And can I blame someone else for it?
Teams of experts are already hard at work looking into the first question; the complete answer may be weeks, even months, away — if it's ever known at all. Meanwhile, the second question is still hanging there like a great big thunderstorm on a hot summer day, and since there's no way to ignore it, I'll try to take a stab at it.
It's not my fault.
It may turn out that it's not your fault either, but it's certainly not my fault. I can't begin to count the number of columns I've written over the years about energy regulation, let alone about the need for more coherent and effective policies to deal with our nation's ever-expanding energy requirements. In fact, loyal readers are always asking me, "Rick, why do you go on and on about improving our procedures for the efficient and reliable transmission of electricity? Can't you ever write about anything else?"
And as often as I hear their complaints, I reply, "If our energy needs go unmet, what else matters?"
Many of you, I suspect, are unfamiliar with my 22-part series on this very subject, "From Gridlock to Grid Shock: The Coming Breakdown of America's Electrical Infrastructure," which was later nearly turned into a important if underappreciated book, as well as a critically acclaimed miniseries on Bravo. A few different words — "Yes," for instance, instead of "No" — from certain people in a position to make things happen, and "Tripping My Circuits" could have been one of the breakout hits of 1998.
Not that I was motivated by thoughts of glory, any more than our various power companies have been motivated by thoughts of profit. Far from it. I simply saw it as my patriotic duty to sound a warning, to send up a flare, to hoist a red flag — in short, to marshal every cliche at my disposal to move this critical issue out of the shadows and onto the front burner of our national conversation.
Nor was I reluctant to name names. I recall very clearly, and this was long before these latest events cascaded into our collective consciousness, answering a friend's worried query with the single word: "Ohio." The specific question, if I remember correctly, was "What's the name of that state just east of Indiana?" — but the broader implications should have been apparent to anyone.
Those who weren't listening have only themselves to blame, just as those who ignored the concerns raised so persistently by our farsighted political leaders need to look themselves in the mirror. After all, when reforming the nation's energy policies can stay near the top of Washington's action list year after year, can the average American do any less than Congress or the White House has done? It's hard to imagine.
So now what? Now that all the problems I predicted have come to pass exactly as I'm sure I said they would, what happens next? Will our country rise to the challenges that face us, or will we ignore all the warnings and return yet again to the outdated and dangerous energy policies of a simpler time?
I think the answer is obvious.
Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist. Visit his Web site at www.yesrick.com.