The Energy Crisis To Come
Here we are, coming out of a summer with gas over $4 a gallon, and now it’s under $2. We heard a lot of reasons the price went up from our Congress, but apparently they have no explanation why it has gone back down. I guess we shouldn’t expect such wisdom from the idiots we have in office, but their mental capacity is a topic for a later discussion.
We are in a lull with the ongoing energy crisis America faces. We do use a lot of oil, no doubt about it, and we do rely on coal for electricity. To say we need to find alternatives is fine, but it does not change the fact there are limited options and none of them are being pursued with a realistic plan. Too many in this country are taking the approach that many children do when faced with something they do not like. They are closing their eyes and hoping the problem goes away. This practice has been used for many years, and now the energy problem is larger than ever since we have not done anything about it.
So what is the answer. How about we embrace the resources we have while continuing to pursue alternatives?
This country has a tremendous amount of oil. The shale oil reserves in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado hold more oil than that in Saudi Arabia. An estimated five times as much. Here’s the story from The Daily Reckoning. Yet we don’t hear about it. The process of getting the oil with current technology is messy, but Shell is experimenting a new process called the In-situ Conversion Process, where the ground is heated so the oil can be extracted. It’s a ways off and we have to wait and see if it will work on a commercial scale, but it is a step in the right direction when it comes to getting America off oil currently under the control of OPEC. Meanwhile, we have a lot of oil in Alaska and on the coasts, but Congress won’t let anyone go and get it. Congress says oil companies should use the land they already have leases on, but they fail to mention these lands either don’t have oil or there is no economical way to get to it. The moratorium on off shore drilling expired over the summer, and people thought we could finally retrieve our own oil and natural gas instead of buying it from other countries, but environmental groups have filed the necessary lawsuits to block drilling.
We are also facing a huge problem regarding electricity. Our power grid is getting old, and nothing is being done to update it. Coal is taboo due to the whole global warming climate change movement, solar and wind cannot supply but a fraction of the electricity needed to maintain our country, and nuclear, which is everything a climate change lover should like with it’s zero carbon output, is looked at like the plague. Natural gas is fine, but the natural gas sitting below the ground in our country is off limits due to the actions of Congress and the environmentalists.
What does this all mean? It means we are in trouble, and it’s going to get worse as the years go by and no action is taken. We have several reasonable options at our disposal, but none are being pursued. We can get off foreign oil, but only if we drill here. We can generate electricity with little to no carbon output, but only if we can build nuclear plants. We can utilize natural gas, but that would involve drilling in the oil fields. I suppose we could put up wind farms everywhere, but where will the money come from (not cost effective) and who is going to volunteer to cut their electricity usage by over 75%? Oh yeah, wait until plug in hybrid and electric cars are the norm. Where will the electricity come from to charge those?
Wake up, Congress, and open your eyes. This problem is not going to go away just because you’re too afraid to stand up for what this country needs. What we need is and energy plan for the future that starts today.
Jerome
