ENERGY FLASHES

THE U.S. WILL HAVE A WORSE OIL SHORTAGE IN TWO YEARS than the nation experienced last winter, even if imported Arabian petroleum continues to flow freely into the country. This prediction comes from Dr. Philip Abelson, editor of Science , the official publication of the 130,000-member American Association for the Advancement of Science. Abelson states that, in his opinion, President Nixon's promise of U.S. energy self-sufficiency by 1980 is "political eyewash". "We are not going to be able to meet our needs for oil from domestic production," says Abelson. "My guess is that, within two years, we're going to be in trouble--probably worse trouble than at the height of the embargo--because we'll have worked our way into even greater dependence on foreign oil."

EXPECT UP TO A 100% PROBABILITY OF OIL SPILLS in the Gulf of Alaska if offshore drilling is allowed in that region. There can also be as much as a 40% increase in air pollution in the San Francisco Bay Area (due to expanded refinery activity) once Alaskan petroleum begins to arrive in California. Please note, by the way, that these projections were not dreamed up by some wild-eyed ecologists . . . the warning comes directly from the President's Council on Environmental Quality.

DESPITE RECENT HEADLINES ABOUT THE PLANET'S DEPENDENCY ON OIL , approximately 80% of all households in developing countries still rely on wood as a primary source of energy. So says Keith Openshaw, a partner in the International Forest Science Consultancy of Penicuik, Scotland. Openshaw further states that demand for this fuel is growing faster than supply and--unless a program of coordinated forestry management is instituted in the poorer regions of the world--developing nations could face an energy crisis that dwarfs today's shortages. The planet's increasingly denuded and treeless surface will also suffer greater damage from floods and the spread of deserts.