BY ZACH DIONNE

Special to The Morning Sentinel

The United States is based on "the presumption of everlasting cheap oil, and that day has come to an end," said author Michael Klare, a political science professor, in advance of his address in Waterville.

"It's not that oil is disappearing exactly," he said, "but cheap oil is gone forever, and we'll never get back to that place. And we haven't really planned for this day."

Klare, a Massachusetts professor, thrice-published author and pioneer in the field of global-resource politics, will shed light on the concern of rising gas, energy and heating oil prices with two Waterville appearances this week.

On Thursday, Klare will speak on the topic of "America's Future and the Permanent Energy Crisis" at the Mid-Maine Global Forum's annual event at Colby College.

Klare, 65, of Northampton, Mass., is a defense correspondent for "The Nation" magazine. He also is professor of peace and world security studies for Massachusetts's Five Colleges, and based at Hampshire College. In April, his book, "Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy," was published.

Klare will address the reasons behind the end of low-cost oil, using his new book's title as a guide. "Rising Powers" refers to new resource competition from China, India and other countries, while "Shrinking Planet" denotes the Earth's dwindling energy supplies.

"The failure of the Bush administration to anticipate this reality," is another topic Klare will touch on, he said. "They've had eight years; these developments were not unanticipated in 2001."

"I'm not an energy expert, per se. I'm a political scientist," he said. "My advice really has to do with how to solve this politically and internationally." An example of Klare's ideas toward a solution is his endorsement for the U.S. to cooperate with China in developing alternative-energy sources, as the countries are the globe's two primary oil consumers.

"The fulcrum of politics is not ideology, as it was in the Cold War, but resource competition; over energy, water, food or other vital materials," he said.

Gas and oil prices have dipped recently, and the trend may continue or easily reverse. "We've had a little bit of respite in the past few weeks because of declining demands in the United States and China, so the prices might not go quite as sky high as they seemed to be at the beginning of this summer," he said.

Klare forecasts that a severe hurricane season or the impending possibility of a clash with Iran could cause oil and heating prices to rise again.

Klare sees positive light in the nation's citizen involvement and consciousness of these issues.

"I think what's different than a year ago is a huge increase in public awareness of these issues," he said.

"I sense that from traveling around the country, and people are acutely aware of the problems of oil and are insistent that policy makers address this issue."

"I think Maine is very aware of the problems that we face due to our dependence on petroleum," said Rep. Stacey Fitts, R-Pittsfield. "The Legislature has taken steps to turn our dependence around, though we are far from achieving all of our goals. It took us a long time to get to this point and it will not be turned around overnight. We have natural resources available that can get us to a diversified energy mix."

"The next president -- whether it's Obama or McCain, it doesn't matter -- will be under huge pressure to take steps to radically reduce our dependence on oil and to make available alternative sources of energy quickly and to provide economic relief for citizens." Klare calls this the "No. 1 political priority in America today, in every state I've been in, and I've been in the north, south, east and west."

Fitts said an alternative energy-solution is crucial, particularly with the impending Maine winter: "Even with modest price corrections, we are still looking at the most expensive winter that we have ever dealt with. A large part of our population is working toward adding supplemental and alternative heat sources. We should be putting every bit of our political might into planning for the upcoming winter and taking steps to turn this problem around for the long haul as well."

The prospects are intimidating. "Every community needs to be prepared to step up to assist and even rescue those who may find themselves in danger of being frozen out of their homes this winter," Fitts said.