"Energy Crunch Imminent"
"Solar and Wind Provide Independence."
"Petroleum Companies Enjoy Record Profits"
"Biofuels Can Boost Nebraska Farmers"

This is remarkable only because I wasn't doing my daily trawl of green websites --–I was reading a magazine from July, 1973, before there was in an Internet, cable TV or Leonardo Di Caprio to inform us about climate change:. July, 1973.

I was at the home of a family friend and energy veteran scanning copies of the magazine "Alternative Sources of Energy," as well as its annual book. The independent publication was distributed to a small group of staunch environmental activists and off-grid enthusiasts. I also browsed a collection of dozens of books discussing solar, peak oil and energy independence from the 70's and 80's that could have easily been published this year. (See images of the magazine articles here, here and here.

I recognize that the current crop of sustainable business leaders and thinkers did not invent the technologies and principles being pursued today. Still, I was shocked to see just how much literature calling for action was available long ago, and how little has changed in 35 years.

The energy issues are mostly the same— e.g., peak oil, energy independence, environmental consequences -- —and the needle has barely moved vis-a-vis the advance and impact of the relevant technologies. (If computing had advanced at the same rate as renewable energy, this article and the supporting pictures would have filled up most of your hard drive and have taken minutes to open.)

Despite my skeptical nature, I desperately want to believe that we have learned the lessons of the past. I want to believe that sustainability will stay a center of our business focus and consciousness even if oil remains below $60 a barrel and the oceans don't start swallowing coastlines..

(Equally unsettling was remembering our situation when I was in fourth grade -- a largely despised president is in the final stages of an unpopular war, dealing with rapidly fluctuating energy prices and a stock market meltdown. Sound familiar?)

I'm hopeful that we are not destined to repeat the mistakes of the past. The business community, including some of the wealthiest people in the world, are more attuned to the situation. And even more importantly, today people see economic opportunity whereas before conservation was looked down as intrusive to our way of life as exemplified by Jimmy Carter wearing sweaters.

However, today we seem better prepared to make tough decisions and change behaviors. Energy security, climate change and the need for domestic jobs are much more in the fore today than they were decades ago.

Let's hope that the only sign that we're still in the 70's will be a return of the solar panels on the White House.