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Saying continued high energy prices are needed to provide economic incentives to improve energy efficiency and channel investment into research and development of alternative energy technologies is the same as saying these technologies are not sufficiently competitive in today's high priced marketplace (the marketplace price for investment in the production of future energy sources is substantially less than the current overheated price for energy.)
Hence, the energy investment decision makers are anticipating lower prices and not a continuation of today's prices. What is lacking in arriving at sustained lower energy prices is a coherent going forward energy policy in the US that uses all the weapons in our energy arsenal, especially the substantial ones, and not just relying on alternative energy sources to get us there (outside of conservation, alternatives are not going to be substantial producers anytime soon).
Somehow, subsidies are fine for alternative energy, but are outrageaous for oil and gas, nuclear, ethnanol or clean coal. The latter are super substantial energy sources for the world, whereas alternative energy sources are capable of only providing a less than substantial reliable energy source for a very high price.
