The first and the last of these problems may well be the most serious, because they make even the discussion of the other two-energy strategies and time-tradeoffs--discouragingly more difficult.

In varying degrees, this book addresses all four of these general barriers to a workable, acceptable energy policy for our nation, but it deliberately stops short of concluding what the best policy might be. Instead we have concentrated on summarizing relevant and significant information as well as we could ascertain it. The confusion about basic data is a troublesome factor in the energy debate; and we believe that a public purpose can be served by presenting as simply-yet as objectively-as possible what we consider the most reliable information available about supply, demand, current and prospective technology, environmental and public health and safety impacts, monetary costs, equity issues, and the interrelationship of domestic energy questions with international affairs. We have tied these diverse elements together as best we could, and it is