Mohamed H. Zakaria, Jeddah, published in Arab News on 31 March 2006

Energy Concerns

The recent visit of President Bush to India, his first, is expected to consolidate the newly emerging friendship between the world’s two largest so-called democracies and concluded a landmark civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreement.

It is sad that Pakistani politicians and leaders failed to understand that the real motive of this generous US offer to India is to cut down on Indian oil imports from the Middle East by diverting her energy needs toward nuclear power.

The war is now between the two giant energy producer and supplier i.e. oil and nuclear.

George W. Bush recently spoke at a Johnson Controls battery technology development facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and vowed to eliminate the US energy imports from the Middle East by 2025.

The United States currently uses over 20 million barrels of oil per day, which costs over a billion dollars a day.

Bush is showing signs of taking seriously his stated support for accelerating the development of new energy technologies with two main objectives.

First, to transform the way Americans power their cars and trucks. And, secondly, to transform the way Americans power their homes and offices.

OPEC nations should understand that high prices of any commodity actually encourage innovation and introduction of substitutes.