Let's face it, nobody likes to see you or me angry.
But unfortunately, every time we get upset about another news report proclaiming another jump in the price of petrol or diesel, we are experiencing increased amounts of anger.
And for a change it appears to be directed at the right sources of at least some of that anger.
During the past few weeks an organisation called American Solutions have been informing the public about some of the inside story behind the recent meteoric rise in fuel prices we have sustained lately.
And they have also circulated a petition online to urge Congress to allow drilling for oil from American sources straightaways so we make it easier on our pocketbooks.
But the reasons behind the recent price spikes in petrol and diesel prices are almost myriad.
First we need to accept certain facts about global economic activity. The reality is with Western Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada now having fully developed economies, growth in those economies is rather modest, about two to four percent depending on the country. The US and Canada have been near the upper end whilst European nations have trended near the lower end of that curve.
Then there is the fact that global economic activity has spiralled upward, especially in Asian and East Indian countries. With China and India becoming major global economic vehicles due to the high propensity of manufacturing and services performed by Chinese and Indian labourers, it is only natural that those folks should aspire to higher standards of living. The average man in Beijing or Bangalore is just as likely to buy a new car as the average man in Bakersfield or Bentonville or Boston...and auto manufacturers are becoming more and more proliferate, not only with Western nameplates like General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, PeugeotCitroen, Volkswagen/Porsche/Audi/Skoda/SEAT (pronounced Say-OTT) and RenaultNissan, but also with homegrown marques, like Heibao and Red Flag and Chery in China and Mahindra and Maruti and Tata in India.
In fact, two of those Indian companies have already made great impact within Western automotive and heavy machinery circles. Mahindra have been marketing farm tractors in Western Europe and the United States for a number of years, and in addition to their Jeep-like off-road vehicles and their compact single-cylinder-engined mini-pickup Champion, have launched the Scorpio, an upscale off-road vehicle analogous to the Mitsubishi Montero.
Tata Motors have not only begun selling cars and trucks in South Africa but also recently purchased Jaguar and Land Rover from the ailing American giant Ford Motor Company.
Then there are the lowly Maruti, not so lowly now that Suzuki have been building a number of compact and subcompact cars under the Maruti nameplate in a joint venture, much as has been the case in China with a number of foreign manufacturers.
And you can add at least one more player to the field: Malaysian automaker Proton have been selling cars in Europe and throughout Asia for a number of years, satisfying some of the growing demand for those vehicles as Asians get off their bicycles and get onto cars and motorcycles.
As for Western manufacturers, the Volkswagen Lupo and Santana, a number of Toyotas and Nissans, and anything with the Buick nameplate are being lapped up in China like kittens lapping up saucers of milk. A Buick-nameplated eight-passenger version of our Pontiac Montana is particularly acclaimed and sought after, with a connection to Chinese superstition placing the number eight in positive connotation.
In India, Ford have been marketing a number of compact models, including the popular Ikon, whilst the ever-popular Chevrolet --- long sought after during a number of years when the Indian government had nationalised the auto industry --- have enjoyed a substantive comeback.
And as a result, their fuel consumption has soared drastically in the past few years. With two-and-a-half BILLION people consuming more energy, including more oil, more coal, more uranium, our energy prices have begun to rise rather drastically. Such activity has even fuelled oil market speculation to the point of suspicion.
Next there is the matter of our environmental policies. Let's begin by stating that it is always important to work to preserve the environment. This is why private property is an asset to a country's values. When a company can manage their own property, they have greater incentive to maintain and improve their property. Oilfields and oil projects and coal mines have long coexisted with even the more delicate flora and fauna, and even though we see the occasional disaster, such as the 1969 oil spill off of Santa Barbara or the infamous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska (attributed to a drugged ship's captain) or even the occasional coal mine collapse like that in Utah from last summer, energy companies have typically enjoyed a stellar track record with regard to environmental stewardship.
Technology has always been available to bolster the energy industry. In the 1960s auto manufacturers like General Motors started utilising fuel injection in performance cars, like the Chevrolet Corvette. (The Beach Boys wrote and recorded a song that included mentions of a fuel injected Corvette!)
This came about BEFORE California implemented their first environmental regulations for automobiles and trucks in 1966, BEFORE the very first Earth Day in 1970, in which the founder, , projected dire predictions for our Earth before 2000, BEFORE the Sierra Club were formed, BEFORE all the controversies erupted over the environment --- and that INCLUDES Rachel Carson's 1964 book, Silent Spring. Then came efforts to minimise smokestack emissions, which in more recent times have even included a method that would place trays for growing algae at the top of a smokestack in effort to remove harmful emissions.
Emissions technologies have arisen to ensure cleaner air especially in major metropolitan areas. A 1970 Ford pickup produced as much pollutants in its emissions as some 30 000 (yes that's thirty THOUSAND) of their 2001 model year counterparts. The reason behind such changes is technological developments. They helped bring the average fuel efficiency rating of the average American production car upward during the 1980s and beyond. Today, you can buy a new hybrid SUV (a model of the Chevrolet Tahoe) with the fuel efficiency of a Toyota Camry!
And there are also some folks who see fit to utilise natural resources for the purpose of energy generation. The Hoover Dam is a major testament to natural energy: The massive dam built during the 1930s had a thriving town with its own stores, postal station, and schools, but left behind a legacy that includes not only electrical generation but also recreation sources including resorts (like Lake Havasu City in Arizona), boating, fishing, and camping. Today it provides electricity to millions of people in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Major cities served by the Hoover Dam include Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. If you are reading this in either of those cities, chances are you are using water-powered electricity.
Of course, some American folks have a negative view of hydroelectric power --- but on the other hand Canada have totally embraced it, now producing most of their energy with it. They worry about disturbing the nature of riparian streams which have been known to bring about destructive forces, but then again, even the major rivers, like the Mississippi as of late, have been wreaking havoc on societies for millenia.
Harnessing the power of the river and the stream has had beneficial results for the economy as well as the ecology, providing a number of jobs in addition to clean energy.
But more accessible forms of clean energy have been generating attention from technicians, ecologists, environmentalists, and economists alike for a number of years.
Solar energy has long been a popular source of clean energy and with rising energy prices during the 2000s it has become even more sought after.
The development of improved solar panels continues making an impact, even to the point where traffic robots, warning signals, and highway advisory signs are now available with solar panels. Solar panels are also available as flexible all-weather sheeting for rooftops and even as roofing panels themselves.
A new technology has been developed by the Canadian company Octillion which use microsheeting on windows as a receptor for solar energy, thus turning your ordinary window into a solar panel in itself --- very useful in the United States and the Northern Hemisphere on southern eastern and western facing windows.
Then there is an old standby making a major comeback with a technological twist: Remember the windmills on your grandparents' farm? Maybe you live on or near an old farm which HAS a windmill! Those windmills are not just for quaint country charm, folks: Back in the 1920s and 1930s, before electrical power lines became more widespread, especially with regard to the great energy projects like the Hoover Dam and the Tennessee Valley Authority, hundreds of thousands if not millions of farmers actually used those old pinwheel-like windmills for electricity generation!
And back then a typical electrical circuit plan included lighting for lamps and ceiling lights to replace candles known for their soot and smoke and fire hazard, an occasional small kitchen appliance like a toaster, a clock or two, and maybe a radio in the parlour.
This was BEFORE television, BEFORE VCRs, BEFORE DVRs, BEFORE computers, BEFORE modern stereos, BEFORE the cassette, BEFORE the compact disc, BEFORE the MP3, when records came only at 78RPM. (The long-playing record had yet to be introduced!)
Today's windmills look like large aeroplane propellers or like the more cylindrical fans you might have seen in an old swamp cooler or evapourative cooler. Today you can still find those old coolers at a farm supply store like Atwoods in Oklahoma or Tractor Supply throughout the Midwest and South, but for most Americans they were the forerunner to modern air conditioning, including central heating and air.
Some detractors have claimed that the propeller-like turbines have been dangerous to avian wildlife and taking up too much space. In that event, maybe the vertical axis turbine might be more attractive, if only because birds see the spinning turbines as solid objects.
Most of them can be set up as little as four feet apart and can be built within the 35ft variance limit most communities set as a height limit for structures without obtaining a permit.
Larger scale vertical axis turbines can and should be considered as well for some of the same reasons but also because a rotational axis is not necessary as is noted for traditional propeller-type wind turbines like those you can see dotting western and central Kansas and other areas in increasing numbers. A Coastal Ranges pass near Hayward, California dotted with such turbines is also highly visible along Interstate 580 between San Francisco and Fresno.
Then there are geothermal sources of energy that are increasingly attractive especially in areas where seismic faultzones are noticeable. One such facility in the hills north of San Francisco is set to give that community a large portion of clean energy, and other hotspots throughout our mountain ranges and faultlines stand substantive potential for energy generation.
And then there is nuclear energy: We have had a hard time building new nuclear power plants for decades partly due to the Three Mile Island disaster but also due to the fiction of the Jane Fonda film, The China Syndrome. And I admit, I myself was deadset against nuclear power when I was growing up.
But after seeing energy prices soaring in recent years I have finally eliminated my objections to nuclear power only in the past year --- and evidently I am not alone: Even the founder of Greenpeace wants us to consider nuclear power too!
Unfortunately, some folks have a rather radicalised view of energy generation which by the proponents is seen as "progressive" yet is seen by a number of detractors as "regressive". These folks have a rather strong regard for the environment, such that they fail to see the reality that most other folks understand, that whilst renewable sources of energy are indeed important for energy development, that these specific folks have a methodology of dealing with traditional sources including oil and coal as well as to some degree even renewable sources like hydroelectric power that can best be described as "throwing the baby out with the bathwater".
These folks have been involved with campaigns to prevent efforts to drill, harvest, refine, and distribute petroleum and petroleum products.
They have prevented the development of any new oil refineries since 1976 when a Louisiana refinery went online in the community of Garyville. They have prevented the drilling of certain areas such as a small section of a major wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, coastal areas even as much as 200mi off the coastlines of our Pacific and Atlantic coasts as well as the Gulf of Mexico, and a number of leased land areas on American soil.
And now their efforts have come under fire.
How?
They have had a strong lobbying effect upon certain politicians, mostly from the Democrat party, but sometimes from the Republican party, though they have had lesser effects upon the latter. They certainly find their talking points expressing negative outlooks about drilling for oil and irrational hatred toward oil companies as well as certain politicians who have had a history with the oil industry very well covered in the Establishment Media.
They have also had influence over the taxation of your fuel at the federal and state level. Your typical oil company might earn eight cents on a gallon of petrol or diesel. By contrast, the federal government assess 18,4 cents in taxes on a gallon of fuel. State governments vary in the levels of taxation, rising to as much as 50 cents a gallon or more. And those taxes are invariably passed on to you as well. It is said to be part of the reason we pay more for taxes than we pay for food, clothing, or shelter.
Their efforts place an equally irrational focus on forcible conservation, incorporating coercion especially of the American people into smaller, lighter, weaker, less powerful, more dangerous vehicles, occasionally to the point of gravely violent vandalism against inanimate objects like off-road vehicles. They also make note to shame people for living in larger houses, they attack couples who choose to have larger families, they vilify efforts to perform even the most rudimentary efforts to harvest deceased and decaying trees in our forests thus allowing them to become tinder for countless forest fires across the United States, they even call for raising fuel prices and taxes yet even further...and to encourage legal action against oil companies.
And sadly their efforts have a role in the high cost of your fuel. They are a large part of the reason many of you are paying more than $4 a gallon for petrol --- and some of you more than $5 a gallon for diesel. Their efforts to prevent the construction of a new refinery for 32 years, coupled with their efforts to prevent oil and coal harvests, have been part of the reason fuel prices have soared so precipitously, not to mention why we import roughly two barrels of oil for every one we produce in the United States.
Granted, much of it does come from hitherto-friendly neighbours Canada and Mexico. That said, some of it comes from the Middle East, mostly Saudi Arabia, and also from Venezuela. However, Brazil have recently uncovered some sizable oil deposits that just might make them major oil producers such that they would not need oil imports from the Saudis nor the Venezuelans --- quite a feat for a nation that worked during the 1970s and 1980s to become an ethanol-dominant society. We could be relying on Brazil for some of our oil.
OR
We could start taking care of our own affairs.
That's right. As hard as it is to sully the pristine lands and shores and oceanfront with even a few more oil wells we are basically between a rock and a hard place. We are starting to see dire economic predictions, some more dramatic than others.
And even Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, himself a presidential candidate --- with his own stridently environmentalist record, even expressing a belief in man-made climate change (which at least in my opinion is impossible, as though man can do a lot of damage to the environment, man cannot alter the climate, for the forces are beyond the control of mankind) --- has now expressed an interest in drilling for oil on American soil and in American waters.
Yet his opponent, Illinois Democrat Senator Barack Obama, disagrees. Maybe you do too, but consider that he is amongst a number of politicians opposed to drilling and harvesting oil even 200 miles offshore, not only attacking our demands for being able to obtain our own oil and coal from our own sources, but also even condemning our lifestyle as he sees from his idea of the global viewpoint. Even now, he is complaining about the potential for harvesting American oil, even to
the point of blaming President George W Bush and Vice President Richard B Cheney in the same irrational vein that a number of
left-of-centre political groups have taken to doing for whatever problem they claim to have with America.
But ordinary Americans like you and me are standing up to scream that something be done about the shortened supply of oil, the
lack of sufficient refineries, even the ageing of our nation's refineries, typically 40 years, 50 years, even 60 years old, and they are
even yelling that at Congress.
The battlecry?
As in the words of veteran actor and martial artist Chuck Norris, "DRILL HERE,
DRILL NOW, PAY LESS!"
WHY DRILL HERE:
If we drill on American soil and in American waters, we have no doubt about the security and stability of our source of oil. Let us consider that your typical oil company are operating on a thin profit margin of less than 10 percent. Such is the current lack of profitability that ExxonMobil have now decided to exit the retail fuel market.
This could open up further competition between corner markets like SevenEleven, QuikTrip, Kum-N-Go, and On The Run. Smaller fuel companies could benefit as well.
But being able to drill on American soil means oil companies can do much more with less money, thus bringing down the cost of oil, which then brings down our fuel prices. They do not have to import from thousands upon thousands of miles away nor put themselves at risk of a terror attack.
Then consider that most everything you buy, from tyres to tomatoes to televisions to tennis balls, gets transported by truck or by train. Both are heavy consumers of diesel fuel --- and a typical 100-US gallon tank could easily run $500, with the average diesel truck getting six miles a gallon. That means that a cross-country run can run to as much as $3000! And you wonder WHY truckers are parking their rigs and getting out of them! Smaller operators cannot keep pace with the fuel prices.
And every time the prices of petrol and diesel rise --- so do the costs you pay at the supermarket. And the clothing store. And the electronics store. And the record store. And the book store. Even your online marketers have to pass along higher shipping costs --- because the shipping companies, like Fedex and UPS and even the United States Postal Service, have to bear a heavier cost of fuel for powering their aeroplanes and trucks. Whether it is a four-wheel Dodge Sprinter with a five-cylinder engine or a triple-trailer COE with a 10-cylinder behemoth motor bigger than some compact cars --- it needs diesel to run and it takes more to fill the tank these days.
And even the items transported by train --- though they CAN travel a bit further on fuel as the rails offer less friction to the wheels --- STILL have to get to their destinations, from the lumberyards to the ports to the industrial complexes dotting the Anaheims and Aliquippas and Augustas and Alamosas of our great country. They burn large volumes of diesel (which CAN be synthesised from
oal) to move their cargo, some engines generating 5000 horsepower or more apiece, with a number of multi-engine trains typically generating 40000, 50000, 60000 horsepower transporting cargo carriers, coal, and cars and trucks.
And if the rail companies are able to purchase diesel and even coal for lower prices they can pass the savings on to their customers.
Trucking companies already embattled by soaring fuel prices also benefit: They can lower their shipping costs, meaning they pass the savings on to their patrons, the companies whom they ship for.
This then means that every manufacturer and every name brand --- from Amana to Logitech to General Electric to Zenith --- can pass their savings on to the retailers. Then the retailers can pass along the savings they get from the manufacturers, distributors, and the transporters --- on to a very important person.
YOU.
And suddenly you start seeing the difference --- whether it is in that Sweet Sensation double CD you have had your eye on, that copy of Mark Levin's bestseller, Rescuing Sprite, that chicken fried steak from Colton's Steak House, that bucket of fried chicken from KFC, that Jumbo Jack from Jack In The Box, that bottle of SevenUp from Walmart, that DeWalt circular saw at The Home Depot, that Kobalt wrench kit from Lowes, that Boston Red Sox baseball jersey you saw at Finish Line, that Coleman tent you wanted to get from Academy, that new carburettor and door handle you needed to get for your '68 Poncho from AutoZone, or that tank of petrol for your Ford pickup from your neighbourhood Texaco --- you start seeing your prices drop. Suddenly that $18 meal comes down to $16 and you can leave a bigger tip for the waitstaff. That $109 toolkit comes down to $99, that jersey drops from $80 to $75, the touching book about The Great One's rescue of an older dog comes down from $23 to $19, that two-CD set featuring Betty Dee and company comes down a buck --- and it all adds up.
Drilling our own oil makes more sense than one might think --- and our oil companies have long had a stellar track record of working with the environment. British Petroleum have taken to calling themselves "BP" and "Beyond Petroleum" as they work to develop a variety of sources of energy. Royal Dutch Shell are also getting involved in green energy. ChevronTexaco have long touted their record toward working with vulnerable species like certain wild foxes in California's Kern County oilfields.
Any time you can get private enterprise involved means you make it easier to manage the environment. That means that the ability of a private entity to own land gives the company incentive to invest, maintain, upgrade, improve, and take care of their property. This is something we learnt from watching the Eastern Bloc fall and we got to see a number of dead forests in central and eastern Europe.
Those forests are recovering as more and more trees are growing in that part of the world and capitalism takes hold in those areas.
WHY DRILL NOW:
I just put some petrol in the tank of my car and paid roughly $3,65 a gallon in Springfield, Missouri for the weekly drive home from work. For a number of you that would be a dream come true. However, if we don't start acting now, we further place ourselves at the greater mercy of a number of hostile nations who are already flush with petrodollars which they can use to buy influence contrary to American values and interests....and even that seems like a cheap fuel price.
If we can become more self-sufficient and rely less on the Saudis and the Venezuelans, however, they are then going to find it easier to sell to growing Asian economies like China which have grown in double-digit annual percentiles for a quarter century and India which have grown at roughly eight to ten percent annually, both of which are becoming increasingly mobile with the growing prevalence of cars and motorbikes and trucks. Literally billions are advancing from third world to first world standards of living in less than a generation. If we make it easier on ourselves to supply our own oil and fuel, then we make it easier for THEM to obtain oil and fuel too, because the oil prices drop, yet those oil-rich nations STILL earn a strong living because they have less to worry about sending to a more self-sufficient America (1) and because they know they have a steady business anyway as more people attain a more Western-style standard of living (2). This means that people in Chongqing can also afford things more easily just as people in Charleston (WV or SC) can, that people in Kolkata can more readily achieve a higher standard of living just as people in Kansas City (KS or MO) can.
Chances are you would rather dispense with paying $100 to fill your fuel tank and go get a smaller car. Indeed we have had to adjust our driving habits, from buying smaller cars to adjusting your driving habits. We HAVE done both --- and actually dropped 11 percent in our fuel usage this past March over a year earlier.
Also, consider that the framework for a number of the drilling projects already exists as do pieplines. We can use those to our advantage as we reclaim our energy independence. We can then rely less on expensive shipping from overseas and more on our own sources. If we have enough oil to provide petrol and diesel for 100 million cars for 60 years --- to speak nothing of our 200-year supply of coal --- we can certainly put some of that to use whilst we refine our green energy sources. By that time we will long have ceased to rely on oil and electric cars will be the norm as well cellulosic ethanol. But until then, we need to retain traditional sources and continue refining technology to further energy efficiency. We can even use what we learn from such technology to benefit us in a truly post-petroleum society.
WHY PAY LESS:
Again we go back to the basic things you buy in your everyday lives: the dress shirt, the cat litter, the sack of potatoes, the magazine at the checkout stand, the football, the box of cookies. And you can clearly see that with the fact that most of that comes via truck or train, shipping costs influence a number of the costs of those items --- and a large component of that is the fuel.
Do you REALLY want to pay more for that box of Nutter Butters or that Stetson hat or that sack of Jonny Cat or that copy of Martha Stewart Living or Muscle And Fitness? I don't know about you but I would rather not have to pay any more than necessary.
Drilling in the United States also means we pay less to import oil from Nigeria and Saudi Arabia and other potential hotspots in the world. We can then pass along further savings throughout the marketplace and bolster our economy. Even our government will benefit as they will have to spend less money on fuel, meaning lower costs of government, and thus lower tax burdens on you and me.
We don't even have to worry too much about importing from Canada, Mexico, or even Russia. We can prove to the world that we can take care of ourselves --- and consequently other oil consumers will pay less. Yes, the price of oil will drop, and the Opec nations will be bothered by it at first, but consider that so many billions will now rely to some extent on oil, and consequently Opec nations will benefit as they receive a steady supply that will last longer.
And as American oil production rises, oil prices worldwide drop, meaning even more fuel to the fires of growing economies worldwide. That means everyone the world over can experience a stronger economy and a better standard of living...even the poor living in Opec countries. Even China could be paying less for fuel --- which has recently experienced a sharp uptick in
price just like it has here.
So the plain and simple is we must consider what our future is if we do not undertake measures to secure our own economic stability. This means we must consider ALL sources, and yes that includes traditional methods, yes that includes OIL, and yes it means we ALL benefit in the long haul. Some estimates put savings from such a common-sense approach at as much as $2 a gallon --- meaning some of you could be paying less than $2 a gallon again on a regular basis.
Then wouldn't it be nice to have more in your pocket and less to pay to someone else?
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