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<br />2-wRW washn x x x Fro- <br />duction line in Gary, Ind. All the energy sources that might replace <br />oil and gas must first be converted to electricity. <br />"In other words, the way to solve our energy shortage will be to <br />use more electricity in the years ahead--not less. Understand that ths <br />is not a call for ~stinq electricity, but for a shift ~ electricity <br />from other energy forms. Our society must put more of its energy into <br />the form of electricity, and reserve oil and gas for such vital tasks <br />as only these fuels can handle." !toss stated at a meeting of the Amer- <br />ican Public Power Association. <br />START SUBSTITUTICN NOW <br />"creating the electric economy means that we should begin now to <br />substitute electricity for the direct combustion of oil and gas wher- <br />ever this is technically and economically feasible. Consumers of energy <br />will have to be persuaded of the feasibility and advantages of switch- <br />ing to electricity: the products must be made available to permit them <br />to make the switch: and our electric system capacity must grow to meet <br />these new demands. <br />"If that sounds like a big order, it is. But I believe that there <br />is really !1Q. alternative. The question is not where we are going. but <br />rather the timing and route by which we make the transition from the <br />fossil fuel energy economy of today to the electric energy economy of <br />tomorrow. If no one takes the lead--if we try to sit back and let it <br />happen-the result will be massive shortages, a jerry-built energy econ- <br />omy, and an ever-tightening tangle of regulation, fuel allocations,etc.o <br />Ross said. <br /> <br />Ross takes the position that the shifts in the nation's energy <br />base are "nothing new." He has pointed out at the end of the Civil War <br />80 percent of all U.S. energy was supplied by wood. By 1910 the energy <br />base had shifted from wood to coal. with coal supplying three-fourths of <br />the total. Major shifts from coal to oil and natural gas occurred after <br />World War II, so that by 1972 oil and gas were furnishing 78 percent of <br />the nation's energy base, he has said. <br />At the present time. he says, oil and <br />of our energy needs, but they make up only <br />resources. <br /> <br />gas furnish nearly 80 percent <br /> <br />three percent of our energy , <br />---/ <br /> <br />0184 <br />