With the financial crisis, a lot of people are forgetting about the energy crisis. Now if there is a real market correction, that would probably reduce the price of oil considerably. The electricity part of the energy crisis, however, will remain, because we haven’t got the generating capacity to meet probable demand. Indeed, a new study warns of:

…potentially crippling electricity brownouts and blackouts beginning in the summer of 2009, which may cost tens of billions of dollars and threaten lives.

This is a severe problem. I’m sure readers will be happy to learn that the bailout bill that passed the Senate contains 100 pages devoted to energy. None of it, however, addresses the fundamental problem — it is all tax breaks for marginal and speculative alternative energy projects that will actually distract utilities from the real problem. Yet another reason to vote against this terrible bill.