Why are we running out of oil? In 2005 China had 15 cars for every 1,000 people. In 1963 Japan had 13 cars per 1,000 population. Today Japan has 447 cars per 1,000 residents. If China had the same ratio it would have 572 million cars. There are 642 million in the world today. China consumes 7.9 million bbls of oil per day. We, the world pigs that we are, consume 20.7 million. We aren’t going to stop driving. The Chinese are not going to go back to oxen. Therefore, there is going to be a tug of war for the world’s crude. China will bid for every barrel of oil they can get. They are tying up as much as they can on long term contracts. Some of these contracts call for China to build infrastructure for countries that have oil, like Somolia. Guess what comes with infrastructure? Cars.
Politicians, stargazers, fools, and actors want us to run this Nation energy free. They see us returning to the Garden of Eden. Big problem, there are roughly 7 billion of us, not two, and we’ve chewed up a lot of resources. And, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
We want to go where China’s been and they want to go where we are. They will build their new economy on the backs of our sacrifices. Ten years from now, China will have plenty of energy for however many cars they need and we will have very little. Good planning, bad planning. Good leadership, no leadership. Realism, idealism. Sorry, there may not be a chicken for every pot in America. You like rice? How about your grandkids?
