Thinking About Oil? Try This!
The NYT reports no-bid deals for American oil companies in Iraq. Are we there yet? Now can we come home? Well, maybe. In the meantime, gas is soooooooo expensive!
It really is. We blame the price on growing world demand -- you know, China and India. We blame our own policies of being green or not green enough (no nuclear plants or gas refineries or wind farms in my backyard, our desire for big cars, or personal laziness.) The autarkic Lou Dobbs blames it on the fact that we import oil -- he'd have us produce it all at home, and trade with no one. Politicians blame high gas prices on either our friends who won't pump it out fast enough or our enemies who, in resisting our advances, have created a high security premium on every barrel. Of course, we could follow the lead of Congress and the presidential candidates, and blame greedy oil executives who enrich themselves as good people suffer.
Here's a reason you won't see or hear much about when we discuss the high price of oil..
The US military uses 340,000 barrels of oil a day. This makes the DoD the 34th largest consumer of oil in the world, and the American taxpayers (with promises to Chinese and other overseas bankers) pay for it. Adding insult to injury, we note that the US government generally pays above market prices for its needed petroleum products. Of course, the invasion and occupation of Iraq was planned and executed there (and not in some other little crappy country) in part because it offered, with the right suasion, no bid contracts of the type we read about today.
Americans and the media both err when they demand to know how a U.S. president will solve our ongoing energy crisis. Constitutionally speaking, about the only thing a president could legally and responsibly do for the energy crisis is bring the troops home. From this, no-bid contracts evaporate, and competitive production and marketing ensue in Iraq and her oil-producing neighbors. From this, international terrorism directed towards Americans transforms overnight to the odd crime rather than a political touchstone. From this, our domestic economy reorients from bombs, bullets and armored humvees to a more intelligent use of our talent, our youth, and our innovation. From this, Congress no longer fears being called traitors for not supporting the American empire, and starts listening to the millions of good ideas out there for more and better energy solutions.
We can wait another decade and do this in a poorer, more miserable, and frustrated domestic environment because we have to -- or we can do it now. John and Barack, are you listening?
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One more distraction. Let me show you why.
The Ford F-150 used to sell at more than 50,000 vehicles a month. That's 600,000 vehicles a year. If we assume an average lifetime of 12 years, there should be some 7 million of these things out there. An F150 has a fuel consumption of 12mpg. Let's assume the average driver drives 15,000 miles per year, i.e. 41 miles/day. So that's 3.4 gallons/day per vehicle. 7 million F150s then consume around 24 million gallons of gas a day. There are 20 gallons of gas in every barrel of oil. So that's 1.2 million barrels of oil a day needed to fuel F150's alone. That's nearly four times as much for a single vehicle family as for the whole US military!
I am sorry, but your attempt to blame the military for this problem does not fly. The problem is the people who drive cars that are way larger than what they really need.
Another thought comes to mind...sin
While your math is correct, and you are right, that the US DOES use too much oil in the civilian sector, the author is not saying that the US Military is USING all that oil, the author is pointing out that since our military is being used to secure oil for our civilian uses, maybe there's some blame at te governmental level.
I quote from the article:
"Here's a reason you won't see or hear much about when we discuss the high price of oil.."
The logically correct next sentence to the blame on the military is: "You won't hear much about military uses of oil because it is not an important cause for rising oil prices. Let me explain to you why...."
Instead she makes an argument about why it is an important cause. And she is simply wrong. Thank you for acknowledging that I have a point.
Having said that... personally I feel that if we stop the war in Iraq and cut our military spending back to half of what it was before the war, and fly half as many bombs around all the time, we can be just as effectively protecting this country against terrorists. No argument there. But while I hope that one day we will spend more on schools and less on bomb delivery systems, I do not foster an irrational hope that disarmament could also solve the liquid fuels problem. Nothing but real conservation will. And that is why this argument is nothing but a distraction.
No, neither John nor Barak is listening.
Don't look into the future for some savior. Talk is cheap.
If you want change, impeach the officeholders who are in there right now. Either you have law enforcement or you have nothing at all. Them's your choices.
If middle-easterners REALLY wanted to defeat the American military, they'd take their own oil fields back from oil companies and the Saudi monarchy, and not sell ANY to America.
You can't fly planes, drive tanks, and have a war without gas. One of the reasons we have a Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That would kinda level the playing field.
That explains the under-armored vehicles -- better gas mileage. The Pentagon was squandering American lives in an unappreciated effort to go green. Who knew?
Hi Karen . . How about ?
We return the energy problem to each state . . .
(1) If a state wants to drill . . . then drill
(2) If a state wants wind mills . . . whoosh-whoosh
(3) Offshore Lease royalties should go to the state (to use for investment in alternative energy . . . or just give to the residents, like AK)
(4) Each state should get to decide what their energy mix should be.
To help the states encourage conservation . . . each state should be required to either produce energy 'equivalent with use" or apply a $2 per gallon tax to fuel and then invest those funds, within the state, as voters instruct, to achieve the state's energy equivalency.
Most the red states are "already there" . . . TX, OK, KS, WY, ND, SD, MT, CO, NM, UT, LA, AL, MS, WV, KY, AZ, IN . . . and consumers would not need to pay a gas tax (the trade-off for looking at oil wells).
In the solid blue states . . . NJ, NY, CA, MS, CT, IL, OR, WA . . . they would not have to look at oil wells, would have a mechanism to discourage consumption and funds to build wind mills and solar farms to their hearts content. . . . This would have to be pure joy!
All would be happy, except the unfortunate conservatives living in the blue states . . . to
Agreed
A OK. I totally wouldn't mind to pay $5 a year to keep my piece of the ocean clean. But when YOUR oil washes on my shores, I will sue your state. Just so you understand.
Col. Kwiatowski, as a former KC-135 pilot I wish I had every gallon of fuel I've dumped into the atmosphere over the years, let alone burned. It's hard to believe the amount of fuel that I saw wasted during my Air Force career.
That thought comes a bit late, doesn't it?
I guess you just don't see the new reality. High gas prices are GOOD! High prices are the only thing that will get us off our dependence on burning fossil fuels.
Col. Kwiatkowski's commentaries have always reflected studious and enlightened views whether they be about "open door"policies to israeli officials in the DoD or related ops.
It was not too long ago when a bottle of coke or Pepsis from a vending machine cost $1 US dollar in those days a gallong of gas used to cost $2.25. At the present the states with oil deposits are under pressure to either charge more, keep more of it underground for the future, or sell it for other then the US currency.
When one adds the goings on at the New York Mercantile Exchange to the mix voila $4.25 a gallon of gas. There are untapped oil fields in Northern Africa, Sudan/Darfur and other areas in Southeast Asia. The cruc of the matter is that by following the neocon lies and the urgings of Israel to invade Iraq and then Iran and the resultant disasyers for the US both domestic and non-domestic the Us is no longer in a position to dictate or influence the cost of a barrek of oil. Col Kwiatkowski's comments add to the punishing effects of US policies in the ME.
Hey Iowa60, how about this. We have no more refining capacity, the oil companies are free to sell the oil on the open market. You think congress is going to pass a bill to make them sell the oil only in the US? NOT! Oh, buy the way did you read what the war in Iraq was really about or don't you read. Must listen to Fox News.
Dear Ms. Kwiatkowski,
It has been awhile since I last dropped in on you, I can see by your eloquent essay/post that you're still on top of the issues, and that your excellent reasoning prowess has not diminished one bit, kudos on ya! Thank you for all your efforts. Agape.
US has around 1.6% of world oil reserves overall.
US uses almost 25% of world oil.
Happy about drilling now???
Nope, and neither should you.
Thank you for your post.
They passed the buck because the oil is not there. Is it so easy for the American people to believe that we would rather send our entire wealth to foreign countries when we have our own oil and we can't get it becase of some caribou. Wake up people before it is too late. Conservation. Car pooling. No Sunday drives. 4 day work week. Think our way out of it, not whine our way out of it.
Yes we all know who uses so much oil and how much the demand is up around the world. So why isn't there anyone insisting we start to become energy independent? Off shore drilling and everywhere else on American soil, is our chance. We have other countries drilling off our shores and taking OUR oil so why not keep it for ourselves? The environmentalists and their lobbyists are trying to run our country and their money has spoken. Are these same people driving or taking the bus around the country for their agenda? No. We need our own oil and not 20 years from now. Every administration, on both sides, has passed the buck and we want action now.
"We have other countries drilling off our shores and taking OUR oil so why not keep it for ourselves?"
No we don't.
Cheney lied.
the USA has 2-8 years of oil offshore.
The oil companies have 40-80Million acres of oil lease land they are not using.
Close the McCain Enron Loophole and oil and gas prices will drop 25-50%.
1 trillion dollars and 10 years will replace all coal, nukes and imported oil with wind and rooftop solar.
See my profile for calculations and links.
Solar and wind are sustainable Forever.
It's time.
Your thoughts are correct but your calculations are off by an order of magnitude. Please check them. It will take tens of trillions of dollars to fix this mess. But the fix will also create tens of trillions of dollars in value and economic growth. It's not about how much money we need to spend, it's all about how smart we spend it.
Really? Our chance is ...... drilling ..... and more and more oil ....
So let me get this right, you say the way out of the oil crisis is to ....... keep investing in the same industry.
OK, so all the EASILY AVAILABLE oil lasts us no longer than 3 months (this is if you count ANWAR as being easy pickings).
Then what, iowa60, do you suggest?
How long do you know it will take for offshore drilling to come up with the loads of oil you think will help us? You've got to get hold of enough drills .... oh there's a shortage. OK, manufacture them. Should take a week. Then dig 2km+ into deep sea to hit rock where you think the oil may be (but may not). By your reckoning, it can take 5 minutes to drive 2km, so this should take an hour.
Then get that oil onto the market. Well, I am sure if you want to purchase some, erm, salsa sauce, you just get in your car & drive there & get it. Yep, same as the oil industry.
So all in all, we are looking at a couple of weeks to see the prices fall in your neck of the woods. Wow, you're the saviour. Your cutting edge and efficient actions will make the price of gas fall REALLY low, so your solution is completely logical.
Oh remember to NOT support any alternative investment. No, just .... more oil. Youre just the type
First, look at the REAL numbers, not the ones provided by those who have a desire to keep the oil companies the only source of energy in the world. Their sales numbers are FLAT worldwide for the last decade!
Second, what about all of us who HAVE been clamoring for energy independence????? You know, those of us who have been SCREAMING for alternative energy since LONG before this particular crisis hit us? You know, those of us who are STILL screaming to get bush to ask for some money for an alternative source of energy which will NOT pollute the planet for thousands or millions or billions of years????
Oh, and one more thing about drilling..
13 billion barrels are four and a half months worth of world oil consumption. Try again. This one goes nowhere.
With 2% of the world's oil reserves we're hardly going to drill our way to energy independence. And no, China is not drilling 60 miles off the US coast. That's pretty much an urban legende.
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