Political commentary, opinion & insight into the state of the United States of America.

Let me try to put our energy policy in terms even I can understand. This has been our plan for most of the past 25 years. We will continue to be the world’s hogs. We consume 25% of the crude oil used daily. We want the world to provide us with that 25% at bargain prices so we can be energy hogs. 

At the same time, we want the rest of the world to despoil their environments so we can keep ours pristine. We do not allow any form of new energy production here. No drilling, no mining, no refining, no nuclear power, burn no coal, no pipelines, no NGL ports for tankers, no natural gas development in Alaska, no , no, no. This carries over into the production of everything that emits smoke. These industries are best done elsewhere so we can be pristine. 

As we became more and more dependent on foreign oil and finished gasoline and diesel, alarm bells began to ring. Something had to be done. Solution: mandate ethanol. Raise food prices here and starve the world. Give more than the $8.4 billion we gave ethanol producers last year in tax subsidies every year for the next five years. In addition, let’s now give $700 million of our tax dollars for world hunger, a problem we made and keep making. Good solution.

Now we have big problems. Asians don’t want to stay poor, ride bikes and oxen, and eat rice. Besides they are producing all the things we used to make before we decided to be pristine. More and more are driving their first car. They want oil and gas. They are willing to pay for it. They have our dollars from all the things they sell us that we don’t make anymore. Plus, they own more and more of our country every day.

But, the world is not producing more crude oil. Most oil produced today is by national oil companies. Mexico and Saudi Arabia are having trouble with declining production. Big Oil as the politicians call oil companies that are not government controlled, can’t find new oil. They are spending their cash on stock buy backs and dividends. They are in trouble with shareholders since they are not increasing their reserves. Most are international and can do business where opportunities are best. They care little about our patronage. Truthfully, they don’t give a darn about the so-called windfall profits tax. They will just sell elsewhere, sell their refineries here, move headquarters elsewhere and take jobs with them, or pass it on to you in higher prices. Is there any of those options that appeal to you?

Two options are now being put forth as solutions to our energy plan failure.

One is to tax Big Oil and use the money to develop renewable fuel alternatives. Scientists say there are none on the immediate horizon, meaning the next 10 years. But, politicians know there are. So much so they are willing to bet the country on it. If they are wrong, we will have $10 gasoline in five years. We will have shortages of all forms of energy. We will have no solutions. We will not like what we have done. Anger will spill into violence. China will be the world power and we will be fighting for our freedom and way of life we used to enjoy. Do you believe the scientists or the politicians? Politicians have been saying renewable options are coming for 25 years.  

The second is to bridge the next 10 years in a reasonable way to keep our economy afloat and maintain a reasonable life style. We are behind the power curve on this if we start today. The quickest solutions are demand reduction. Then, we can drill in Alaska. We can drill in the offshore waters around the country. This might have a 5 year time frame. We can start building nuclear power plants again. This has a ten year time frame to put the first on stream. We can begin gasifying coal. This is probably the quickest. We can fast track the natural gas pipeline from Alaska. This is 5 years. Solar and wind can move forward, but solar now costs 7 times nuclear and Shell just dropped out of the world’s biggest wind project since they can’t see value added. We can go after shale in Wyoming like Canada did with tar sands. None of these have devastating environmental impacts, but you can find fault with one and all. Believe me, many will do that.

If you want your grandchildren to grow up in a country that has no future, support the tax Big Oil plan. If you want to step up and be heard and force the development of the first energy plan that makes sense in 25 years, back the bridge plan. If you are a teamster and you think Clinton and Obama are looking after you, you are dead wrong. They will have your diesel at $10 a gallon in two years, your truck parked, and no job. If you are a soccer mom and you want to choose between supporting global warming and reasonable development of domestic energy, rest assured your soccer issues will be over. You’ll be looking for an apartment close to work and hope your power won’t be off tonight so the kids can do their home schooling. 

It’s time to get real. We have to stop being beggars on the street asking for energy handouts from other countries and getting angry when they won’t give us their oil at our price level. This is the most important issue you will deal with in the next 5 years. If we do it wrong or keep doing nothing, we will doom our grand children’s futures. 

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