Lip service on oil
President Bush paid high-profile lip service to America's oil addiction in his State of the Union speech last week.
He seems about as serious about this cause as his suggestion previously that we put a man on Mars.
Curiously, the president still can't bring himself to mention the c-word (as in conservation). Maybe the president will prove me wrong and put some meat on the bones of his rhetoric.
But take solace. The president also came out against cloning of human/animal hybrids.
Someone quipped that at least he got the term "hybrids" into the speech.
Comments (9)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
I was quite surprised to learn that only about 10% of our imported oil comes from the Middle East. Why it figures into the War on Terrorrrrr, I'm not sure.
And BTW, I love my hybrid car. Can't beat the 60 mpg I average these days.
Posted on February 7, 2006 11:01 AM
1973 Arab Oil Embargo - Nixon launches Project Independence and asserted, "In the year 1980, the US will not be dependent on any other country for our energy."
1975 Energy Policy and Conservation - Pres Ford sets energy independence as a goal by 1985.
1977 Jimmy Carter's "Moral Equivalence of War" helped to create the Energy dept and after the Iranian oil crisis of 1979 declared we would be energy independent by 1990.
...Bush 41 announced his administration's policy as well as Clinton in 1992, and on and on we go.
Now comes forth Bush 43 with his energy policy....same old crap....different messenger.
Wanna lessen dependence on foreign oil? Tax gasoline through the roof and this will force all of us to conserve, which will decrease dependence on fossil fuels and will spur development of alternative sources (corn cobs and grass(non smoking type)converted into ethanol).
Interesting article in FORTUNE Feb 6, 2006 issue "Cheaper Gas Forever, regarding Brazil and the success they've had with converting sugar to ethanol and making it mandatory all gas stations offer alternative fuels. Ethanol greatly reduced their reliance on imported oil. Ethanol accounts for 40% of the fuel 16.5 million Brazilians use in their cars.
The Brazilian government led the charge in driving this technology. Took decades, but their road to energy independence is well on track.
Posted on February 7, 2006 11:20 AM
We will never sever the umbilical cord to the underground source of manna for our Congressmen’s campaign funds and free entertainment I fear. It is simply too satisfying.
Posted on February 7, 2006 12:15 PM
Jon, we have the technology for Ethanol and use a "bit" of it to satisfy for a while the cry for alternative fuel.
My question is why are we subsidizing farmers and paying them not to raise crops when they could be raising crops that could be converted to alternative fuels,such as ethanol. Let the farmers raise all they can, sell it for what they can get and forget living on the dole of farm welfare. Beats letting the tractor sit in the field and rust.
We also have the technology to get 100mpg out of a v-6 engine or an L-4 or I-6 but Detroit and oil companies are in bed together and are not going to change.
Posted on February 7, 2006 12:44 PM
I was incorrect in stating that Brazil still imports foreign oil, it doesn't. It is energy INDEPENDENT. And all because of ethanol.
Mr. Produce, I agree.
Subsidizing farmers is one of the biggest disincentives to encouraging innovation and helping to become better farmers more attuned to our changing economic environment and it's demands.
In the FORTUNE article I referenced above, it mentioned that we could be using the Brazilian technology to produce ethanol. But because of the high tariff rates we place on sugar in order to appease the strong US sugar interests, it's cost prohibitive at this point to use a technology that is already producing enough ethanol to satisfy the energy needs of 40% of Brazilian car drivers.
Of course, we could import ethanol from Brazil but we currently have only 587 (of 170,000) stations that are fuel-flex friendly. Brazil has a thriving sugar cane industry that is flourishing as a result of the increased demand for ethanol.
I hope Bush pays more than lip service to the energy crisi that some say is upon us now, but for certain will be all over us when the next Middle East embargo occurs against the West.
Posted on February 7, 2006 1:43 PM
If America were still a land of the independent home grown farmers I am sure they would very much be willing to plow their fields rather than let the tractors rust. But America is no longer that. Instead America is the land of the large corporate farms which make far more off the government dole and letting their fields lie fallow than they could possibly make by hiring workers to grow crops and then turn the crops into ethanol. Brazil on the other hand does not hand out these lucrative “non-farming” subsidies so their farmers are encouraged to produce more and use their crops to the best advantage. Fact is, it is so much more profitable to produce ethanol that Brazil is having to import more and more FOOD I understand.
Posted on February 7, 2006 3:14 PM
I'm ready to plow my yard up, start growing corn, and start an energy revolution. Anybody with me?
Posted on February 7, 2006 3:32 PM
Jon,
Before you do that, check out this powerpoint lecture, "Energy in Transition" by David Pimentel, Ph.D. co-sponsored by UNC-CH and Duke University:
http://www.physics.unc.edu/about/robertsonseminars/
Posted on February 8, 2006 5:06 PM
Iris,
Interesting presentation. But I'm still gonna plow my yard up and start growing corn.
Posted on February 10, 2006 1:48 PM