She is at a point where she has just said to her students:“I want you to imagine that you have been appointed by the government of the United States to be a member of a special committee. Our government is concerned with the availability of energy to serve our needs and wants to review the energy policy of this country. Up to now oil and fossil fuels in general has been the dominant energy source by far in this country. But they are concerned about claims made by scientists that petroleum reserves are being rapidly depleted, and that our reliance on oil has caused various nasty consequences, like pollution of the air, and even wars. So your committee has been asked to gather as much relevant data as you can to make a recommendation about what should be our dominant energy source over the next 25 years. Should we continue to rely on oil, or should we shift to some other energy source?”