Americans talk green but won't pay for it.    At the NREL Green Power Marketing conference in Albany NY last week, they reported that the average participation in utility green power programs was 1.2% with only two communities (Autin TX, and Palo Alto CA) having significant penetration.   Surveys report that 40% say they would sign up for green power but only 1.5% actually do.

It is not helpful that environmentalists want the cost of "brown" power to increase to make "green" power more competitive.   The higher gasoline and natural gas costs this year will have a severe effect on our enconomy and threaten low income people.

With the chaos in the middle east, strikes in Nigeria, political uncertainly in Venezuela, and Hurrican Ivan destroying the Gulf of Mexico- things do not look good.   Ace (energy think tank) just put out their revised natural gas forecasts.   In 2003 they predicted a price decline in 2004.   Their revived 2004 forecast shows natural gas increasing until 2007 and not getting back to current levels until 2010.    Very gloomy outlook and not getting better.