Oil, Politics, and You
At this writing, Crude at $71-plus is breaking into new all-time high ground, and you can see it reflected at the gas pump. This is only the beginning - as summer approaches, and demand increases, we could see $4.00 gasoline here in the U.S. One little conflict in the Middle East, and it could get a lot worse than that -- literally overnight.
So think about these facts as you pull up to the gas pump, getting ready to spend $80 or more to fill up that gas-guzzling, atmosphere-polluting SUV that you just love to drive so much. Your "SUV Habit" does double damage:
In Brazil, 100 percent of all new Brazilian cars are able to run on 100 percent ethanol. Brazilian sugar-cane-fed biorefineries are capable of producing sufficient ethanol to allow the entire fleet, new and old cars alike, to do so. Ethanol costs about half what gasoline costs. It doesn't contribute to global warming. It doesn't produce noxious fumes that pollute the environment, causing smog and making people ill, driving up healthcare costs.
Here in the U.S, we could produce enough switchgrass to biorefine ethanol stocks that could power every car, truck and motorcycle on the road in the United States today - and do it in about 2 years, if we really, really decided we needed to.
Brazil today has ZERO dependence on foreign oil. If oil goes to $100 a barrel, it will hardly affect Brazil's economy at all. Now the U.S. of A., supposedly a superior country with more technical resources, could have done what Brazil started to implement 15 years ago, but it didn't. How come we "just don't get it" over here?
Since its inception, Brazil's ethanol program has displaced imported oil worth $120 billion. This is comparable to a savings of almost $2 trillion for a U.S.-sized economy.
Now let's take a look at what dependence on oil will do to the U.S. economy this summer. Here's a chart of oil vs. inflation:
Ask your favorite politician why we never had and still do not have a plan to make America completely independent of foreign oil, and yet Brazil seems to have been able to do this gracefully and has a vibrant economy from doing it.
The first candidate to put energy independence front - and - center on the platform has my vote be they Republican, Democrat, or Illegal Alien!
So think about these facts as you pull up to the gas pump, getting ready to spend $80 or more to fill up that gas-guzzling, atmosphere-polluting SUV that you just love to drive so much. Your "SUV Habit" does double damage:
- It sucks up twice as much gasoline as you need to get from point A to point B, putting even more pressure on the demand side of the energy equation. If you car pool and actually have 4 riders in that ugly fat "thing" I could say, "Bully for you" - but 95% of the time all I see in there is you and you alone driving to work in it.
- It pumps out twice as much emissions, further polluting the atmosphere and contributing to global warming, which has already started to become a real problem for humankind. Congratulations on the wonderful contribution you are making to society.
Brazil has it figured out; why can't we do it?
In Brazil, 100 percent of all new Brazilian cars are able to run on 100 percent ethanol. Brazilian sugar-cane-fed biorefineries are capable of producing sufficient ethanol to allow the entire fleet, new and old cars alike, to do so. Ethanol costs about half what gasoline costs. It doesn't contribute to global warming. It doesn't produce noxious fumes that pollute the environment, causing smog and making people ill, driving up healthcare costs.
Here in the U.S, we could produce enough switchgrass to biorefine ethanol stocks that could power every car, truck and motorcycle on the road in the United States today - and do it in about 2 years, if we really, really decided we needed to.
Brazil today has ZERO dependence on foreign oil. If oil goes to $100 a barrel, it will hardly affect Brazil's economy at all. Now the U.S. of A., supposedly a superior country with more technical resources, could have done what Brazil started to implement 15 years ago, but it didn't. How come we "just don't get it" over here?
Since its inception, Brazil's ethanol program has displaced imported oil worth $120 billion. This is comparable to a savings of almost $2 trillion for a U.S.-sized economy.
Now let's take a look at what dependence on oil will do to the U.S. economy this summer. Here's a chart of oil vs. inflation:
It's not rocket science folks. Gold is doing the same thing, having recently hit a 25 year high. If oil shoots up to $100 a barrel, even temporarily like it did back in 1979, our economy will come to a screeching halt. Inflation could hit 10% and interest rates will go through the roof. And, all this could happen by late summer, 2006.
Now you take this to your elected representative and ask them why, after 40 years of the lessons of history, we are still so dependent on foreign oil to run our economy. Ask them for answers, not political rhetoric, and ask them to show you a plan. All this won't get any better until we do something about it, and the way to get that done is at the voting booth, by electing enlightened polticians.
Ask your favorite politician why we never had and still do not have a plan to make America completely independent of foreign oil, and yet Brazil seems to have been able to do this gracefully and has a vibrant economy from doing it.
Oil Companies aren't the cause, but they are part of the solution
Don't be so quick to blame the "Big Oil Companies" on the problem. Blame yourself, for not insisting on having elected representatives that are committed to taking appropriate action.Yo! We put men on the moon 35 years ago, and yet we can't seem to solve our energy problems? What a bunch of HORSESHIT! The reason why we haven't solved our energy dependency problems is because we've elected a bunch of Chicken-Shit politicians with no plans and no priorities to run this country.The first candidate to put energy independence front - and - center on the platform has my vote be they Republican, Democrat, or Illegal Alien!
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ReplyDeletePersonally, I ride my bike to work once a week. This season I am going to begin riding in twice. It is so easy and fun. I actually look forward to going to work. Immediate solutions other than cycling are revitalization of AMTRAK ( curiously neglected) and rapid development and deployment of hydrogen fuel cell technology.
ReplyDeleteGood for you. I'd ride my bike too but it's just too far. Actually I think ethanol is the best solution. Brazil already showed us it works, and it fits in with our existing scheme of gas-stations. Retrofitting cars and gas stations to dispense/consume ethanol instead of gasoline is no big deal.
ReplyDeleteUmmm, OK... Now let's see, last time I checked it was Congress that passes legislation, not the Pres... What, are they all afraid of old Georgie-Porgie?
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I guess we have started to go to ethanol, and it is driving food prices up, especially corn prices. It seems we can't win. To me the most sensible thing is to raise gas prices up gradually so that our society has the time to adjust. And yes, our current politicians are too wrapped up in their own egos to have any sort of long term view on how to solve any of our society's problems. I fear the shock of $200 a barrel oil. We are at $120 now, and it is being somewhat managed, but $200...especially if we duke it out with Iran...our recession could turn depressing.
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