A pipeline broke in suburban Chicago last week. Gasoline prices are up 25 cents a gallon. Why, because that crude oil was heavy Canadian crude. To replace the lost crude and gasoline, finished gasoline must be barged up from the Gulf Coast produced from light crude imported from the Middle East.
When BP was getting permits to upgrade their Whiting, Indiana refinery to accommodate more heavy Canadian crude the Chicago Tribune ran an article that they would add a few pounds of mercury to Lake Michigan as approved by the EPA and the State of Indiana. The annual amount was less than the daily average when it rains. Every politician in the area jumped on the bandwagon to stop the project. Led by Richard Durbin and Mayor Daley plus my congressman Peter Roskum(R) and the republican senatorial candidate in Illinois, Mark Kirk.
They all chose to make political capital for a short term benefit, but ignored the long-term need for a secure supply of inexpensive crude and gasoline for the Chicago area. They ignored the fact that BP was going to invest $2 billion, it may be up to $3 billion by now, in a 120 year-old pile of pipes. It was in the best interest of every soccer mom in Chicago, but they led the protests.
If you think a quarter a gallon increase over a short-term pipeline leak is big, what would be the price of gasoline in Chicago if BP had walked away and closed the refinery? It’s a speck on their balance sheet.
The only good news in the US domestic energy business in the past 20 years is the huge amounts of natural gas we finding in the lower 48 states. It’s driven down your heating bills. It offers an alternative to imported oil. It doesn’t emit carbon, or small amounts compared to other fuels. Why would we stop this boon?
Because your EPA, funded by your tax dollars and fueled by your President, wants it stopped. They have a dream of green energy that is our nightmare and doesn’t include natural gas or any other hydrocarbon. The EPA announced Monday they will look into the natural gas drilling process. Not just for the chemicals they use to fracture the shale they drill through, but also for the amount of water they are using to drill.
Any time progress is made in this country a government agency will step in stop that progress.
This is just another example of why we need to throw out every slime bag that jumps on dogma to stop progress. That would be hard to do with Kirk, since his opponent is a crook. I will never forgive Peter Roskum who gave up his principles and fought the BP upgrade at Whiting. He need to go next time around.
