Who would ever have imagined that the Jimmy Carter years, with its pet rocks, roller disco, and leisure suits would now be considered the “good old days?” Sadly, given the record price of gasoline (spiking to over seven dollars a gallon in some regions), that’s where we now seem to be. Energy markets around the country are facing supply and price pressures not seen in generations, which is affecting far more than just the price at the pump. Dire market dynamics are firmly entrenched within other sectors, from propane to natural gas to coal.

The result, according to the head of the International Energy Agency, is a multi-faceted crisis that reaches beyond even the gas price spikes of the 1970s in its severity while being far broader in reach.

In a nation that was seemingly energy independent just a few years ago it’s important to question the path we took to this perfect storm of energy price and supply pain. As it turns out, the answer does not involve a straight path but many wrong turns along the way.

A key contributor to our current energy woes is the way we have mismanaged our energy markets at the highest levels of government in the United States. We are here because we devalued and failed to comprehend the urgent importance of reliable baseload energy sources. And we’re here because for decades some politicians have prioritized ideological objectives over sound policy.

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