Just read the papers or listen to the news. The economy is a major topic of discussion. Economists espouse their various theories, but the key is pretty simple: affordable, abundant power is the engine of a vibrant economy.

Market factors can be measured and statistics analyzed, but at the end of the day, how much products cost is directly affected by energy costs. Over the past few years energy prices have skyrocketed. Coal prices have more than doubled, oil prices have approached $50 a barrel, gasoline prices are at record levels, natural gas prices have doubled, and just about every industry has been hurt as a result.

The automotive industry is just about the largest business in the world. But what fuels the automotive industry is not just gasoline prices but energy costs as a whole. The steel industry uses incredible amounts of power to create steel for cars. In this region, AK Steel is the largest natural gas and electric power user, period.

I blame the recession on the fallout of the energy crisis of 2000. Between California, Enron and natural gas prices in the double digits, industry was slammed. Many large industries have fixed-price supply contracts with their customers. Seeing their energy prices double or triple in some cases severely damaged their bottom line. They had to absorb those costs or pass them on. But no matter who paid the bill, we were all impacted by a downturn. These costs offset investments in new capital equipment and growth. They hit individual pocketbooks hard enough that new purchases are delayed.

The economy as a whole has had to absorb this dramatic upswing in energy costs.

If Washington wants to stimulate the economy and solve many other issues, we need a comprehensive energy policy that includes aggressive development of new technologies and large-scale power production. South Africa now has a Graphite Core Pebble Bed Reactor in operation. France has been the beacon of reliable, large-scale nuclear power for three decades.

Three Mile Island and Chernobyl killed the U.S. nuclear industry, and we have struggled along with fossil fuels. But the emerging industrial giant, China, is now importing coal from the United States. China is beginning to challenge us as the largest energy user per capita of any nation. We have to act now to make energy affordable and abundant in a world starving for power.

Raymond A. Miller teaches power plant technology at the University of Cincinnati, where he is senior staff engineer for utility systems and technical support.

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