Are we nearing end of fossil-fuel age?

When petroleum prices skyrocketed about a year ago, it put the spotlight on numerous wind and tidal power projects that have been proposed for Maine. In addition, manufacturers of solar power devices have been busy.

This is good evidence of an economy adapting to a changed situation, finding alternatives to costly oil and gas products and the foreign powers that control most of the reserves. These developments also promise to help Maine’s economy in some rural areas where it is needed most.

This scenario has happened a couple of times in the last generation. But just when it looks like our economy might learn the lesson of its dependence on foreign oil, the price goes down and most of the proposals disappear.

Could it be happening again? This week gas prices, $3 a gallon just recently, have been around $2.50 a gallon and as low as $2.429 in some places. Do big oil companies treat consumers like junkies, getting every penny they can out of them but not letting the prices stay high enough long enough to actually make them kick the habit? It is admittedly a cynical view, but not totally unrealistic.

And consider some of the projects that have been proposed:

. About 50 tower sections for windmills have been shipped to Mack Point in Searsport for a $55 million Mars Hill Wind Farm being developed by Evergreen Wind Power LLC.

. Competitive Energy Services of Portland has put forth a $12 million wind power proposal for Beaver Ridge in Freedom. The towers for this project would be 260 feet high, and 400 feet high when the blades are at their highest points. Beaver Ridge would produce 4.5 megawatts of power.

. Maine Mountain Power wants to put 30 wind turbine towers on mountaintops near Sugarloaf. The Redington Pond Range would house 12 towers, and 18 towers would be placed on Black Nubble Mountain.

. Saco wants to erect a tower for municipal use.

These projects tend to have environmental opposition, and appropriate agencies are involved. But they also have support from power-hungry consumers. The Maine Lung Association has supported the Sugarloaf-area developments as good alternatives to fossil fuels for people with asthma and lung disease.

Being one of the windiest parts of the country, New England has been targeted for its wind power potential. Already 10 significant projects are online in the six states.

Tidal power projects are also on the drawing board.

. Ocean Renewable Power Co. wants to place underwater, emission-free electricity turbines in Cobscook Bay. They would produce 75-150 megawatts of electricity.

. The Passamaquoddy Tribe is considering wind and tidal projects and earned a $148,000 grant from the federal government to study a wind proposal that would be located near Cherryfield and also received a $97,000 grant for a tidal power study.

. Normand Laberge, an engineer from Trescott, has proposed a 1,200-foot tidal power dam (and LNG project) for Half Moon Cove in Cobscook Bay off Perry.

. New Hampshire Energy Co. has proposed submerging between 50 and 100 turbines in the Piscataqua River between Portsmouth and Kittery.

. A Washington, D.C., firm has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to study the placement of 100 underwater generators off Verona Island in the Penobscot River. This project would be located near the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge, which soon will replace the Waldo-Hancock Bridge.

Some observers say we are nearing the end of the fossil fuel age and others say there are plenty of reserves. But being a commodity with futures trading, the price is like a yo-yo and consumers finance the trading success of speculators.

Members of the Maine Congressional delegation are among legislators trying to change the rules of futures trading to make the price less volatile, but some economists have said this wouldn’t work because of the international aspects of the trading.

Maine should be able to develop enough domestic alternatives to make a difference.

State government should be quick to help. Already people are taking advantage of state tax breaks for installing solar power.

Help targeted at commercial wind and tidal efforts would seem in order.