The world is getting pretty upset with the US on economic policy.
Timing is just about right for the Saudis and the Russians to put a nail in our economic coffin. Just pull back the levers on crude oil supply a notch or two and bam, we have gasoline prices that will sink our leaking ship.
Don’t worry, there will be Congressional Hearings(#30 by my count) where they will once again blame Exxon. Exxon produces 2% of the world’s oil. Does anyone really believe Exxon can manipulate oil prices with that leverage. You and your neighbors have bought that theory for over 30 years, so why not?
We drift along without an energy strategy. Domestic production is down to 5 million barrels a day. We consume 20 million. The Bush policy called for ethanol and ethanol equivalents to carry the day. T.Boone Pickens called for wind and natural gas to fix our problems.
Let’s assume for a minute that we hit the panic button and finally decided we needed to drill in Alaska. It takes about 10 years to bring an oil field on line. And, the pipeline carries 2 million a day. Meanwhile, we have stopped production in deep waters in the gulf. The place that has bailed us out the last few years.
What happens to our economy and unemployment and the dollar if oil goes to $125 a barrel?
The DOE continues to give billions to Dr. Chu’s egg-headed university friends to play with test tubes. Algae isn’t working. Fuel from cellulose isn’t working. It takes billions in subsidies to build a wind farm that won’t move one vehicle, plane, or automobile. Electricity as a transportation fuel has many problems.
So, we drift along waiting for the inevitable disaster to hit. Our energy stategy is like the dikes in New Orleans. It will put us under water, the issue is when.
Since the Saudis and the Russians, the two biggest oil and gas producers in the world are now working together on supply quotas, we can all sleep better knowing they have our best interest at heart.
Energy strategy has not been a campaign issue this last election. Out of sight out of mind.
By the time it becomes one again, the cow may well be out of the barn and the barn may be on fire.