Conserve first; drill later if at all
We’re hearing a lot lately about drilling for oil. There are people so naive to think that by drilling in the Arctic or anywhere else we will see an instantaneous reduction in prices at the pump. Anyone with any street smarts should know that an instant price reduction like that means that the whole scenario about oil and availability is a fabrication. Some people evidently think that drilling for oil is like sticking a straw in a glass of chocolate milk when in reality the process of extraction is getting tougher and more expensive as the world’s oil supplies get more elusive.
A quote from a National Geographic article from 4 years ago states:
Others think that by curbing our oil use and developing sustainable alternatives now, we can delay the peak and wean ourselves more easily when the inevitable happens. There are many things you can do to ease the transition, says Alfred Cavallo, an energy consultant in Princeton, New Jersey. And you can have a very nice life on a sustainable system. Of course, not everyone is going to be driving SUVs.
This was the idea in 2004, yet in 2008, people in the U.S., some of the biggest fossil fuel hogs in the world are still arguing about global warming, and just curtailing the movement to replace fossil fuels with clean alternative energy sources once and for all. In 2002, George Bush even admitted that global warming is man made and exacerbated by the fossil fuel industry. Yet the argument against environmentalism continues. Think how far ahead we could have been by now, and how many people could have had new employment with progressive companies in green business.
The Bush/Cheney administration has loosed so many environmental laws and/or ignored them that many citizens in many states are experiencing the result of companies like Halliburton devastating the terrain in search of natural gas and/or oil. Think of humans as giant mosquitoes. We’ve bit the earth in search of oil like blood over 500,000 times. The U.S. alone has approx. 500,000 abandoned/operating mines also. We’re abusing the earth plain and simple. Now we want to keep using coal fired plants and forcing the resulting CO2 emissions from them deep into the earth. Forcing gas into the earth has a bad sound to it, and is not an exact science yet. We don’t know what will happen.
When we think of environment we immediately think of air and water, but the earth is taking an awful hit too. Before we even think to drill more, more, more, we need to gage how much fossil fuel we really need, not what we currently, hungrily devour. And in order to do that we need to establish a baseline, which can’t be done until we restrict all extraneous usage and lower speed limits, car pool, change light bulbs, use a clothesline, shut off our techie equipment–you know, the easy stuff. It’s the least we can do.
Until we’ve done our part, we shouldn’t expect poor Mother Earth to keep doing hers to the extreme. Our world is sick and could use some TLC. Conserve first, drill later if at all.
.http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/does_the_us_lack_sufficient_oil_refining.html
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0406/feature5/fulltext.html
May 27th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I hate to disagree with you and the professor. There are no alternate fuel sources in the immediate future for consumption. Ethanol was and is not the answer, and only resulted in higher food prices, finally those in congress are starting to see the error in that judgement.
Can you imagine the hysteria that all these “experts” would have caused during the 1930’s during the “Dust Bowl” era? It was only 20 years ago this year that we suffered through one of the worst blizzards in the country, and county’s history. Back then they were worried about a new ice age around the corner.
As far as drilling goes, I think a lot of people need to wake up and smell the coffee, there already is drilling going on folks. We just aren’t the people doing the drilling. Right now Michigan is missing out on large natural gas reserves under the Great Lakes. Something that the Canadians are taking advantage of by slant drilling. Right now in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of California drilling is taking place, just not by the United States. Would drilling in the artic make a difference? Ten years ago they had the same debate. Now they say it would take 10 years to reach the refineries if they drilled now. If action was taken 10 years ago, I guess we would know for certain.
We do have an alternate fuel source available, but because it would come from the conversion of coal to fuel, it gets a bad rap. The governors in Montanna and I believe the Dakota’s are trying to get people to listen, but the scientific community has deaf ears. Is it a viable source of fuel? It is if you consider that Hitler’s Germany conquered Europe, brought England and the USSR to brink of collapse, with a war machine largely fueled by coal oil.
For now I believe we need to stick with what we know works; drill and build refineries to handle the increase in crude. If you want a real alternative, stick the companies ( and I dont mean just oil) with timetables for developement of some. No more research with no means at the end, but something that will work. Don’t punish people with higher prices, because of nothing being done all these years. We surely do not need to BS the people into believing “Wind Farms” will solve the problems like Governor Granholm’s commercials. Not even Teddy Kennedy belives in it.
I have no problem with doing more at home, but those energy saving bulbs may cut back on usage, but they don’t last like the old ones, where is the savings there? You are better off remembering to shut them off when you leave the room, or turing the computer off when not in use. I have doubled the size of my garden this year to save a few bucks at the grocery store, going to need it when I go fishing this summer!
May 27th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
sorry, turning off the lights, not turing.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:51 am
It’s a free country, so disagree, but make informed statements. Ethanol, how retro? We had that way back in the 70’s. You obviously haven’t read most of my blogs nor have you kept in tune with alternative energy sources. There are all types of TV shows, and channels showcasing what is ready to go. A company called Centia converts the unusable fat sludge from restaurants into jet fuel that requires no modification to the jet. A little old man in Devonshire England has been converting pig and chicken poop from his farm to methane gas for years. It has 4 times the caloric value of gasoline. He uses it to fuel his old car via the carburetor. India is using its cow dung for electricity. SC Johnson Co. is powering an entire plant from the methane from a trash dump. An inventor has invented hydrogen pellets. He figured out a way to encase the volatile stuff in some sort of metal. We may be putting hydrogen pellets in our tanks in the near future because our U.S. automakers are planning on hydrogen power. Our own oilman President Bush operates his ranch house from geothermal energy. GE can’t keep up with production of wind turbines for industrial use.
Oh, and you answered the question about whether to drill or not quite nicely. We already have enough oil drilling going on, so we don’t need any more. Thank you. Haven’t you heard about the oil field we’ve found in the Gulf. It’s bigger than anything the Arabs have, but so far it’s way too deep to tap.
As far as global cooling, I wrote a blog and an editorial that global cooling is global warming by the same title. It’s in archives for May, 2008.
You’re doing your part to reduce your consumption. It’s been said that just a little by everyone will make a big dent in consumption. Try a little harder and it actually becomes fun trying to get that utility bill down. Last summer I got mine down to $115.00 gas/electric combined. Considering I have a pool, pole barn, and a little over 1500 sq. ft., that’s good. I just used overhead fans, utilized my windows/shades, changed all my bulbs to cfl, and used a clothesline. I’ve got a garden too, and fruit trees, raspberries, grapes, herbs, etc. I did great in the winter also with 12 ft of south exposed windows. I shut off my heat for at least 4 hours every sunny day. The sun heated the entire front of my house. I think we had more sun then compared to now.
You’re on the right track. Watch some of the green programs on TV to stay informed. They will actually cheer you up because you’ll see American ingenuity firsthand and it’s remarkable. Watch the Science Channel or go to their website for really current sources of info as far as what’s in store for the future.
There is a plethora of ideas out there. Not everyone will pick the same conservative things to do. The goal is to pick one or two you can comfortably live with and hey, you’re helping out. Happy fishing. Eat only the small ones. Soak up Mother Nature while you’re out there, and thanks.