I am an energy warrior. As a journalist, broadcaster and public speaker, I have been trying to proselytize my fellow Americans that without energy, everything else is moot.

I almost inherited the energy bug from my father, who tried to convince oil companies that there was oil in the Southern Hemisphere (at the time, they believed there was none), and who understood that energy and quality of life march in lockstep.

In those far-off days in Africa, when oxen were still used for transportation in rural areas and when mules were used for city haulage, the graphic need for abundant, portable energy was everywhere to be seen.

The message in Africa was very clear: If you had a supply of energy, whether diesel or electric, you were rich and would get richer. A few fortunates in rural areas owned diesel-fueled mills to grind corn — a big advance to grinding corn by hand. They were the village plutocrats.

The fortunate white settlers had it all over the African masses because they could afford, and therefore profit from, energy. They drove cars, read after dark, listened to radios, and enjoyed a quality of life many orders of magnitude superior to those who were without energy.

I stored away this knowledge and forgot about it until 1969, when I began to write about energy in Washington.

The energy disruptions of the 1970s brought into focus the role of energy in prosperity and well-being. It also brought into focus how few energy options there were, and how precarious oil supply, in particular, was then and is today.

As today, there were wild schemes for new energy sources. They included electricity generated directly from coal and using ocean temperature variations to produce electricity. For transportation, the visionaries envisioned oil from coal; pure electric cars; and wind-propelled ocean freighters, relying on windmills on masts.

There were no silver bullets in the 1970s, but there was hope for a reliable supply of electricity through coal and nuclear power. Transportation remained a big problem.

Today, things are both worse and better. There is still plenty of coal in the world and nuclear power looks as though it is headed for a resurgence. The rub is still with transportation, but the options are better. Hybrid technology is pointing the way to electric-powered vehicles. And conservation is recognized, in the highest levels of government as a necessary undertaking.

The serious reality is this time around, the oil shortage is not manufactured. It reflects world supply and demand.

The future lies with electricity and its use in transportation, from private vehicles to railroads. Where will it come from? Ideally, from nuclear power, cleaner coal combustion and wind.

The trick is to deal with real-world challenges and proven solutions, and not to be distracted by the science fantasies that obscured the real options in the 1970s.