18 Years Ago In Time

Soaring oil prices have renewed concerns about U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The warnings weren't heeded back in 1986, when crude dipped below $10 a barrel and CHEAP OIL was a TIME cover topic.

The main long-term danger to the U.S. is increased reliance on foreign oil. Many business leaders and politicians have taken note that ultralow oil prices are threatening to stunt domestic production. Gerald Greenwald, vice chairman of Chrysler, sees the peril of another oil shock. Says he: "We've been burned twice before, and we see the elements of No. 3 taking shape." ... The oil bust has spoiled the economics of alternative energy as well. Many of the ballyhooed 1970s-era programs to extract petroleum from oil shale and tar sands have been mothballed because they cost too much to operate. The hundreds of mom-and-pop solar-power companies that sprang up in the past decade have mostly folded, even in the Sunbelt. Says Susan deWitt, executive director for the California Solar Energy Industries Association: "Our customers no longer feel the urgency to pursue renewable energy." --TIME, April 14, 1986