There are alternatives, loads of em! But here again, making any nation of individuals, or other nations, energy independent doesn't lend itself to power controlling. All the insistence, rationalizations and design resulting in centralization are evidence of control mechanisms. Dependency is freedom, etc.

A century ago there were electric car road races. But money said to the most galant racers of the era, "Here's money, let's improve and race petrol powered vehicles, etc", and the result we know.

Your mention of the deterioration of the urban infrastructure is pertinent to this discussion. Which I'm going to end on my usual sad note. I know people will have trouble with this but what follows is gospel truth. These international plans include depopulating the planet(it's a Malthusian thing don'tchaknow). Some favor complete extermination -I kid you not!- but most say 80-90% by as early as 2050 should be sufficient.

My point is that power, based on their plans, won't need huge cities so the crumbling infrastructure will be expendable, and may very well be sacrificed to accomplish one end or an other(damn invisible terrorists, and they're going to be blond haired and blue eyed now, if y'all didn't get the notice). Ayup, Al Qaeda is recruiting radical people like you and me, convenient ain't it(?).

Btw, like Leo Strauss, straight out of the U of Chicago, hails an economic theory called Creative Destruction, which is being widely applied presently, so this whole nightmare will be profitable too. Iraq is a case in point.

My purpose isn't to be morose, but don't be surprised if something far larger than 9/11 transpires. We've been told its coming and now we're immune again, feeling safe even.

I tell you true, love those you can, and be loved, the United States is in the cross hairs. Probably more so than any other nation.

You see, GW Bush is telling you the truth when insists, "They hate us for our freedoms". He really is. Where you are misled is in his blaming the Moslems, when in fact the "they" is the power he answers to. That's probably too hard to swallow, but it is the truth.

peaceably