What Does an Interrobang Add to the Energy Discussion‽
This month I rediscovered the interrobang (‽), first introduced in 1962. Intended to be used when a sentence is both a question and an excited exclamation, it never caught on. Writers and editors have been satisfied with ?!?! It strikes me that alternative energy is the epitome of the interrobang—both an exciting prospect, but just as often an open question. Alternative energy was last in vogue in the 1980s, as a response to the mid-east oil embargos. Then it was called small power production. Energy independence was the goal. We got the 55 mph speed limit, expanded daylight savings, and CAFÉ standards. This is when the first wind turbines were installed in the U.S. under PURPA. But the electric utilities did not like this statute, another oil embargo did not occur, and the public concern over gasoline prices subsided. Now the “energy crisis” has been rediscovered, global warming has been added, and we have revived some of the old strategies. Here comes alternative energy‽
