From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

The future of energy is the U.S. prepared.

Hello again, I'm Orman Alney, and this is To the Point.

From Public Radio International, a daily look at the issues, Americans care about most.

$200 a barrel for oil and $6 a gallon for gasoline next year.

That's according to experts at Goldman Sachs.

Many authorities believe those rising numbers won't ever be coming down

and that this is the time for the U.S. to wake up and do something about it.

On to the point, as Congress waits for a new president who might have an energy policy,

there's talk of an uprising by angry consumers.

Has oil reached its peak?

Will Americans agree to sacrifice the environment to get more?

If there's a market for alternatives, will it be ready in time?

On reporter's notebook, Iraq may lose a rare symbol of national unity. First, here's the

news. Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D. and

Catherine T. McArthur Foundation. Hello again. We're back with back with To the Point. With crude oil and gasoline prices soaring,

official attention is shifting from demand to supply. Will there be enough to fuel the world's

growing economies in the next 30 years? On To the Point, those prices are not likely to come down.

Will that mean reducing environmental standards in the U.S.

or creating markets for alternative sources?

We'll hear what's facing Americans and their next president.

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