In 1973 OPEC held the world hostage. They arbitrarily put the world in gasoline crisis causing everyone to come to a complete stand still. One of the outcomes of the oil crises of the seventies is that the United States decided that they could not put all of our "fuel" eggs into one "fossil" basket. Alternative fuel sources must be developed to carry the world into the next generation. Thirty-Two years later, we are back in the same oil crisis situation, but now it's even more dangerous since the amount of oil that is being consumed is far greater that the amount that can be refined. Why has the development of alternative fuels sources come to a complete standstill, causing us to go through the same thing today that we went through back in the seventies?
             1973 brought widespread panic to the nation, with the onset of an international oil embargo. Middle Eastern countries, wrought with long standing religious and political conflict, cut off exports of petroleum to many Western Nations, including the United States, in anger over their involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflicts. The resounding impact in the United States of this embargo was compounded by weak national policies on energy issues, as well as generally high consumption levels and panic-stricken investors. Therefore, oil prices skyrocketed, the term "Mideast Oil Crisis" was born, and the effects gained momentum. Prices for gas rose significantly, longer lines appeared at the filling stations, and Gas Stations shut down because of shortages. Shortly after the Oil Crisis full size luxury gas "eating" cars became undesirable, and many Americans turned to buy smaller European and Japanese cars. Everyone was looking for ways to avoid the financial impact of the crisis by finding carpools and mass transit options. There was such a fear of a dependence on foreign oil that the federal approved the development of the Trans-Alaska Pi...