Mark J. Perry, scholar at American Enterprise Institute: It wasn’t that long ago that we were wallowing in an era of energy scarcity, worried about our dependence on foreign oil and constantly hearing dire warnings about “peak oil.” The record high oil production this year further solidifies America’s new status as a world energy superpower in a new era of US energy abundance. In addition, the United States has used nuclear fuel and depleted uranium that can provide over 700 years of electrical energy needs at 1994 levels, if America decides to use fast nuclear reactor technology and used nuclear fuel recycling.