Hugo Chavez did in Venezuela with the oil industry there. First step is with the off-shore oil wells. A recent proposal asked for Congressional approval to open up some new off-shore oil platforms and for exploration of the ocean shelves near us so we can increase our domestic supplies and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Already, we have politicians planning to undermine these efforts. Several politicians want the new off-shore platforms to be nationalized and they haven’t even been built yet. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m for keeping the environment safe and as clean as we can keep it. Done correctly and responsibly, off-shore drilling can help reduce our dependence on foreign oil to a certain extent. And right now, with gasoline running $4-$5 a gallon, I think a little more domestic oil supply wouldn’t hurt us any. There are literally trillions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic meters of natural gas just waiting to be tapped for use here in the US and they’re sitting under the ocean. Once again, done responsibly, accessing both of these would relieve some of the financial strain on not only the average consumer, but also on the fuel bills the Federal Government has to pay. Some in Congress seem to forget that we taxpayers are paying for the fuel that goes into their limos that shuttle them around and we also pay for the fuel for the jets and helicopters they fly around in. But I guess when you’re that far removed from “the little guy”, you seem to forget things like that.
The Permian Basin in Texas has more oil in it than the Saudi Peninsula. And we’ve known that since at least the 1970’s. But there’s a hold-up. Between the lack of technology to get to it and being hamstrung by our elected officials, the oil remains inaccessible. Some encouragement from our government and from the elected officials might push the technology to be able to access this oil. That amount of oil would totally reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We might even return to being a major oil exporter again.
During World War II, the Germans figured out a way to convert coal to fuel and synthetic oils. And they used it with great success until we bombed out the production plants. After the war, we captured the plans for these facilities. With the shortage of fuel being what it is, the high prices being paid, and the availability of coal here in the US, it might be time to break these plans out once again and take a look at them. With the advances in technology since then, we could not only make more efficient use of how the gas and oil is produced, but also make the production process much cleaner. And if you think it won’t work, South Africa used a similar process during the Apartheid Boycotts to make up for the oil they were cut off from and did so successfully. So using coal to manufacture oil and gas can work.
Right now, there is a new technology being looked at that might just cut out the need for oil drilling and oil exploration altogether. A company has found a way to produce jet fuel and 91 octane gasoline from products extracted from sunlight, wastewater, and algae. It’s like a perfect solution to solve the fuel shortages and reduce foreign dependence for oil. It doesn’t require upsetting the eco-system as current techniques do. Areas which are basically void of vegetation and animals could be used for the production process. Areas which aren’t fit for humans or animals to live in could be used. It produces as much as 1,000 times as much product per acre than does oil. And it’s eco-friendly, renewable and it can be recycled. Sounds like the perfect product. This would very effectively cut out most of our oil importation for making gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and diesel. The only thing we might need to import is certain types of oil for lubrication providing we don’t have enough of them here. We need to make sure our representatives in DC are aware of this and that this process should be encouraged since it is environmentally friendly. For 1/7th of the area being used right now for petroleum based fuel production (15,000 sq. mi.), we could produce our fuels from algae.
We have 4 states that have enough oil shale and tar sands to produce trillions of barrels of oil which could be used by the American consumer and our industries and power plants. The problem is twofold here. The technology has been slow in coming to make it cost effective and the other is the hamstringing from the politicians. Once again, done correctly and responsibly, this could end all of our dependence on foreign oil and bring down the cost to the consumer.
I have nothing against developing renewable energy sources. It will eventually be the way to go. But until we get there, we’re still dependent on oil. And one problem that keeps forgetting to be mentioned right now is that in order to produce these green, eco-friendly, renewable sources of energy is the fact that right now and for the foreseeable future, they must be produced using environmentally unfriendly means in the form of coal and oil burning power plants. Something else that seems to be forgotten is the toxic waste produced in manufacturing these eco-friendly products. Some of the materials being used currently aren’t exactly the healthiest things around for the human body and the waste products aren’t that healthy either.
One source of energy which is abundantly available for the production of electricity is the ocean. People have figured out how to harness the power of the ocean to produce electricity. This would help to eliminate the use of fossil fuel burning power plants and also reduce our dependence on foreign oil. These power plants that use the ocean’s power to produce electricity could produce endless amounts of electricity because the ocean never sleeps and isn‘t as dependent on the sun as some of the solar collectors that are used. Ocean currents are always moving. The drawback once again is our elected officials in Washington who operate on the premise of “not in my backyard you don’t”. They’re more worried about their real estate values than they are about the collective good of the nation. And two of the biggest opponents are supposedly eco-friendly politicians. Go figure.
Developing eco-friendly cars that don’t use oil, gas or diesel are a great idea. The problem right now is that in order to produce these eco-friendly vehicles, you have to use a power source that isn’t friendly to the environment, just like with some renewable energy sources. And you also have the same problem with toxic waste which is created in the process of creating these vehicles. The electric powered cars have products used to create the batteries and electric motors which aren’t good for children or other living things. And right now, in order to recharge the batteries, for the most part, they have to use fossil fuel burning or nuclear energy power plants to recharge the batteries. Yes, let me glow in the dark just so I don’t pollute the atmosphere. Solar powered vehicles are still in their infancy and have a long way to go. They could eventually be a good alternative providing the toxic by-products used to make them can be reduced or eliminated. Of course, they might not be worth a hoot in some places which get a lot of cloud cover or rain during certain times of the year. But places which normally have lots of sunshine, like the Mojave Desert and some of the states with lots of sunshine in the Southwest, could be a hot spot, literally, for these types of vehicle.
One of the other problems is that in our quest to get better gas mileage and eliminate certain waste products, we have created other waste products in their place and consume more petroleum. Prime example is your car or truck. More plastics are being used in the construction of the car and truck to make them lighter weight so they get better gas mileage. Plastics come from oil. So while we’re getting better gas mileage, we’re also using more oil to produce the cars and trucks. Heck of a trade off isn’t it?
The same thing happens in your house. Look at how many plastic bottles and containers you have as compared to glass. This was done to help eliminate the unsightly bottles and cans found along the sides of the road and make the house a little bit safer from when bottles get dropped. And what do we see now? Plastic bottles, plastic containers, and plastic bags littering the roadways. Most folks have probably seen the recent commercials about a water filter versus bottled water. Think about how much oil is used to produce those plastic bottles that end up in a land fill and take millennia to break down. Recycling could eliminate part of the problem, but not all areas have the type of recycling facilities needed to do this or do it effectively. Out here in the country, we have 2 places for collecting recyclable materials. In some big cities, recycling isn’t even available. Guess we’re one up on some big cities out here in the boonies. Then there’s the plastic garbage bag we put our trash into. Lord only knows how much oil is used up every year producing those bags which take a while to break down. Look at how much plastic is used in our houses. TV cases, computer cases, CD’s, DVD’s, their cases, bleach bottles, shampoo bottles, carpeting, insulation, shingles, and on and on. There’s a lot of oil used to make those products.
One of the other problems we have with the politicians is that some are circling the wagons and discussing an allotment system for fuels. We tried using rationing during the Oil Embargoes and that didn’t work to well. East Germany, Cuba, the Soviet Union, and other countries tried using rationing and allotments for fuels and other things and that backfired on them. And if these politicians discussing this allotment system have their way, think long and hard about this, how much fuel is going to be allotted to you to get to and from work, get the kids to soccer practice, buy groceries, get to the doctor or hospital, and to get you to and from the races held around the country? And how much fuel is going to be allotted to the racing industry? Some of these politicians see racing as a waste of fuel and if they have their way under an allotment system, you can bet dollars to donuts, we’re going to have a lot of unemployed folks in North Carolina because there’s no fuel to race cars and all of the suppliers of parts nationally will feel the effects and either have to reduce their staff or close down which adds even more to the unemployment situation. Scary isn’t it?
Right now we are very dependent on oil for just about everything in our lives. And until we can come up with some suitable replacements for everything we use oil for, we’re pretty much stuck with what we’ve got until the new technologies and products come along to replace it. In World War II, an ingenious gentleman came up with a way to use plywood in the place of metal on ships and landing barges. Another one used plywood to build a successful fighter aircraft. It’s this type of thinking that needs to be done. And both did it for the good of their countries, not for the bottom line. A little self-sacrifice on the part of Big Business for the good of the nation wouldn’t hurt.
If we had the oil from all of these sources, the prices for fuel and petroleum products, based on the laws of supply and demand, should drop drastically. And with the price drop and the availability of more fuel, we should also maintain current efforts to get the best fuel economy possible. C.A.F.E. standards need to be tightened up and gas guzzlers need to be rained in. There are special transport vehicles which we need, like it or not, that don’t get the best gas mileage in the world because of their job. They should be encouraged to improve their gas consumption but not at the cost of safety. A lot of things could be done with a lot of vehicles on the road to save oil and fuel.
I’m not being an advocate for Big Business here either. Unless the US Government wants to get into the oil business themselves, pay for research, drilling, transportation, laying pipelines, setting up fleets of tanker trucks, gas stations, and building refineries, then they need to let the companies with the experience do the work with oversight and a watchful eye, not interference, from the government. And right now, the government is interfering plenty and a lot of it seems to based a lot on party politics. I think it’s high time for us voters and taxpayers to let the folks in Washington DC know who put them there and why they were put there. It wasn’t to fill their bank accounts. It’s for the common good of the nation. They need to put aside their party politics and remember they’re supposed to be doing something to help the nation, not hurt it.
Thanks to our “wonderful” national media, we
didn’t hear much about the fact that two Air
Force cargo planes delivered tons of food,
supplies, blankets and generators to areas of
China which were hit by earthquakes. Even a
country which has been an adversary to our
nation receives help from us and it’s delivered by
our military as humanitarian aid. Good job to
those crews and all involved in that effort.
And while he wasn’t much of a stock car fan,
comedian George Carlin passed away. George
had an eye for observing the little things in our
lives and in politics and giving us a good laugh
while also poking fun at them and us and also giving us a little something to think about. He wasn’t exactly a shining example of a member of the military, but George did an enlistment in the Air Force and received a general discharge. So God love him for serving his country. Rest easy George. And now over to Hal Sleet, the Hippy Dippy Weatherman.
Motherhood, Apple Pie, and John Wayne
Mad Mikie
Curmudgeon at Large
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