The situation of energy and depletion has been discussed in depth in the past years. Books are beginning to appear with more regularity on the subject. Three of the most important and well written books on the subject include:

Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage by Kennet S. Deffeyes, Princeton University Press, October 2001, 285 pages

The Coming Oil Crisis by Colin J. Campbell, Multi-Science Publishing Company Ltd., 1997, 210 pages

Associations are being formed to investigate the situation in depth, the most notable being the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO). These groups point out the seriousness of the situation. If poorly thought out alternatives are ìmarketedî rather than analyzed, the public will have no understanding on which to make their decisions – and one of the most important decisions for consumers to make is to curtail their energy usage. Thus it is important to bring realism into the picture as soon as possible – otherwise, "well-meaning" proponents of these "solutions" will contribute to the delay of efficiency and curtailment projects.

An example of the Pollyanna attitude of today is found in the February 28, 2003 Fuel Cell Report to Congress prepared by the Department of Energy. In the introduction section, page viii, under Education, the report emphasizes the need to clearly communicate the hydrogen vision to potential end users, local governments, and others.

This is further elaborated in the Education section (page 16) of the report. The emphasis is on "selling the public" on hydrogen benefits and does not contain any language showing any intent to provide the full range of risks and potential problems that are necessary for the public to make an informed decision.

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