Time Is Money -- About Half a Million Dollars a Minute
I know you think that the worst is over. Here and there we're starting to get bits and pieces of good news about the U.S. economy. Some are even saying that we're beginning to climb out of this recession. I certainly hope that's true. But one thing's for sure: we've still got our work cut out for us, and the May numbers from the Energy Information Administration prove it.
Last month, we imported 366 million barrels of oil at a total cost of $21.6 billion. Every minute in May we spent $484,087 to pay for our addiction to foreign oil. Think of it this way. By the time you finish reading this post, a couple million dollars will be gone, out of our economy for good. They won't fuel American jobs. They won't pay American taxes. And they definitely won't help us create the infrastructure or the building blocks so vital to the future our country.
OK. I've told you what those billions won't be doing for us. Now I'm going to tell you what those billions will be doing. Each month we cut a fat check to Venezuela's state-owned oil company. We import tens of millions of barrels of their crude. So not only are we propping up Hugo Chavez, but we're giving him the spending money he needs to go out and try his best to give our country a black eye whenever he sees fit.
A much bigger check goes to the Middle East, countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Oman. You know where some of those billions end up? Funding Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Call it what you want: protection money, payoffs, whatever. But we pay for both sides of the War on Terrorism, and we've been doing so for decades. That's got to be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of.
Back to May's numbers. If you're like me and think $21 billion is way too much to be sending overseas, then brace yourself. So far in 2009, the price of gasoline has gone up 88 cents a gallon at the pump, and 48 cents of that jump took place just last month. OPEC has said it would be comfortable when the price of oil back to $75 a barrel, and I guarantee you they wouldn't try to bring it down if it went higher.
So what should we do?
At this very moment we have a window of opportunity that must not be ignored. America can end its addiction to foreign oil, but we have to get moving. Around the world there are roughly 10 million vehicles running on natural gas. Yet only 150,000 NG vehicles can be found here in the U.S. So the country with the most number of cars on earth has the least number of natural gas vehicles? On top of that, America's natural gas reserves are enormous. By some estimates they could last a century. The fact that we aren't making better use of our domestic natural gas makes about as much sense as the way we spend half a trillion dollars each year importing foreign oil.
President Obama recently announced new emissions targets for cars and light trucks. Natural gas produces virtually no particulate emissions and, because of its chemical structure, only a fraction of the carbon dioxide emissions that diesel and gasoline produce. A major initiative to move America's heavy trucks to natural gas would save us billions annually by reducing our need for imported oil. We all know that America's auto industry desperately needs a lifeline. Building passenger cars and light trucks that run on natural gas would help retain existing jobs and create new ones.
All of us want to end this recession as quickly as possible. And we have many of the answers right here right now. What we don't have is any time to waste. Because the longer we procrastinate, the sooner another million, and then another billion, leave this country for good.
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WE export 19,000 bbls of Alaskan crude per day and it is sold to Canada because that is where the market is and of course we import a hell of a lot of gas from Canada. The daily production in Alaska is is about 220,000 bbls.
If Americans think any answers are going to come from a conservative, they obviously haven't paid attention to anything in the last 100 years.
Mr Pickens, I'm all for the natural gas you promote. In fact I'm sitting right smack in the middle of the Marcellus Shale of the north east. And I stand to profit handsomely once its up and running. BUT I am as curious as our NYS EPA is as to what chemicals are used to extract the natural gas. Seems the natural gas industry was granted an exemption to the 1979 clean water act in 2005 to not have to disclose what chemicals they use. The companies currently seeking drilling permits claim the loss of trade secrets if they disclose these chemicals. Now I am all for the production of natural gas, and god knows, in our economically depressed valley, I am MORE than all for the infusion of money this find will inject. But I am not willing to give up my clean water to a hastily planned extraction. I'm grateful my state is taking its time to get it right before it grants drilling permits.
T. boone, You of all people know better.. If we don't store 3.1T's by November every year and walk into a bad winter you have some real problems heating the NorthEast.
You should be ashamed, By now even I have the class and money to have the decency to stop talking up my book!!!
Here's a great lecture that explains what would actually have to be done to get off of fossil fuels:
http://fora.tv/2009/01/16/Saul_Griffith_Climate_Change_Recalculated#chapter_08
For example:
1 new 3GW nuclear power plant per week for the next 25 years
+ 1 olympic swimming pool filled with genetically engineered algae ever second for the next 25 years (for jet fuel)
+ 100 sq meters of photovoltaic every second for the next 25 years
+ 50 sq meters of solar thermal mirrors every second for the next 25 years
+ 3 100 MW geothermal steam turbines every date for the next 25 years
... plus some more, you'll have to watch.
And your point is what? That we should do nothing, continue our ridiculous levels of consumption (of everything), not worry about the futures of our children and grandchildren, and continue to slide backwards while the rest of the world continues to move ahead in production and use of alternative power and fuels?? Solar power was invented in the US, yet we lag far behind many other nations in it's use!! Here's the real scoop, WE can suck it up now, get to work and pay the price; or our kids,grandkids etc (not to mention the rest of the world) can live with the consequences of our non-action their entire lives. You think the Nazis got a bad rep, it's nothing compared to what ours will be!
The point is we are doing basically nothing. WHERE is OBAMA ON NATURAL GAS AS A VEHICULAR FUEL? Where are the nuclear plants? What about more hydroelectic dams? What has Obama done to encourage oil and natural gas production (not a damn thing). He has announced that wihin 4 years he will double the pace of growth of solar and wind, great, he is continuing the pace under the Buxh administration, if he meets his goal that will be 5% of the total energy consumed n the US, who, no that is postive change.
Why would we expect Hugo Chavez to stop bad-mouthing us when we lose no opportunity to bad-mouth him? His government provides health care and education to all its citizens (and even supplies doctors to other countries in the region, while we export guns. His state-owned oil company was the one that came to the assistance of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, while our government looked on). When we do as much, then and only then do we earn the right to criticize.
T-bone, you are wrong, we send our money overseas and they buy our weapons, manufactured goods and luxuries. It's called trade, and there are a lot of jobs and profit in that too. We really need to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and balance the imports with exports. First we have to fix American business to bring the jobs back and get American's to work here.
Apparently you haven't been paying attention, and didn't read (or understand?) the article. They buy our guns??? Yeah, that's something to be proud of exporting. American as Mom and apple pie right? And often our own troops are on the receiving end of those guns! Please go back and RE-READ the article, especially the part about creating American jobs.
Hey, it's not my idea to arm the world, that's the military industrial complexe's job, I'm just stating a fact.
How about everybody get together and decide to make solar power panel to save energy,its not hard to learn to make solar power
http://hubpages.com/hub/How-Make-Solar-Power-Panel-System-For-Home
Mr. Pickens has the concept nailed down perfectly. The case for alt energy couldn't be clearer. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that investors have the incentives to plow productive capital into this.
That said, this country does not have a great record when it comes to training and/or retraining workers for new industries.There is already a big shortage of specialized workers in this area and that can only slows things down significantly. As Mr. Pickens pointed out, it's not as if we had all the time in the world to do something about it.
We need *people* to design, install and maintain this new infrastructure. Where is the training? How can one become a solar tech or a wind energy tech? What is being done about it now?
We pay for both sides of the War on Terrorism, and we've been doing so for decades. This is the only reason we need to stop buying foreign oil.
"So the country with the most number of cars on earth has the least number of natural gas vehicles?"
I'm sure Nauru has fewer than 150,000 NG vehicles, since that would be more than ten per person.
What?
He said we have "the least number" of natural-gas cars of any country on earth. That's ridiculous, when there are countries that are so small. I actually agree that more NG cars would be a reasonable option, but he garbled the particular statement.
Now, that a morale booster, that'll lift the whole American econ, no doubt about that
A simple two part plan to create jobs, wean us off foreign oil and help the environment.
First, the federal government pays to have all rooftops in the country painted white with the most environmentally kind paint. The savings in lowered energy bills and reduced oil imports plus jobs created speak for themselves. http://www.good.is/post/signs-of-the-enwhitenment-how-painting-rooftops-could-slow-climate-change/
Second, the federal government pays to have all houses connected to the energy grid fitted with solar panels. All of the abandoned GM and Chrysler factories are retooled to make the panels and the former workers are retrained.
Each state will need new installers as well as distribution help, so job creation would be boosted even more. This will lead to increases in income and taxes, leading to more money for people and for states.
This all could begin immediately and the benefits would grow as the programs develop. We once were given the challenge of going to the moon, which was thought by many to be impossible. We did it in less than 10 years. When we use American ingenuity, we can do anything.
I like your plan. I think that wind power has a place in there too, at least in my area. It needs to be put into play by individuals and communities not corporations.
Boone is talking about vehicles, mostly semi-trucks and larger vehicles that aren't realistically going to run on electricity. I have a 3/4 ton p/u that is used mainly for feeding hay to my cattle in winter and hauling them to sale. It runs on domestic propane and I love it. His plan is another piece to the puzzle.
I say we attach a windmill or series of pinwheels to every vehicle.
As far as non-renewable resources, such as coal or natural gas reserves, I say we should hoard those as long as possible. Treat it like a savings account. Just because it's economical to burn it all now, doesn't mean it's strategically sound. We might need those resources someday, worse than we do now. That's why we should ramp up our renewable energy sources, even if it costs us money now. They will only be a partial solution, but they will extend the life of our non-renewables.
Every time I read posts like this I can only think about what were told to do after 9/11 by the bush admin, " go out and shop" " drugs sales fund the terrorists". If we had a real leader who said OIL fuels the terrorist organizations and governments who support them and we need to unite and stop our dependence. We would be a nation on the cutting edge of technology and energy independent with maybe not a booming economy but I bet our heads would be above water.
Why is this discussion so heavily m.o.d.e.r.a.t.e.d?
Follow the money.
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