This week, the United States faces down the looming deadline for extending its debt ceiling, a line in the sand that economists say could have dire consequences for our nation’s and the world’s economy if the U.S. defaults on its credit obligations. With the federal government shut down for nearly two weeks on top of it all, and animosity-ridden partisan gridlock as bad as anyone can remember, it will be a plague on both our houses if we cripple our own economy.

But 40 years ago this week, the U.S. battled another economic crisis, one brought about not by political ineptitude but by the inherent insecurity and instability of our fossil-fueled energy system.

Starting on October 16, 1973, the Organization of Arab