Endependence is energy independence that ends dependence on polluting fuels.
Every barrel of oil we don’t consume reduces the market and political power of nations such as Saudi Arabia, no matter where that barrel would have come from. Likewise, every barrel we don’t consume helps the environment and slows global warming, and whether it is foreign or domestic oil makes no difference. Energy conservation is what’s important. Energy independence doesn’t matter. -By Roger Sant and Michael Kinsley Sunday, December 14, 2008; Washington Post
Our sentiments exactly, energy independence doesn’t matter. Energy Independence is politician speak for “we’re not really going to do anything about our energy challenges.”
That is why we are starting a War for Endependence, the key ingredient of which is ending dependence on polluting fuels.
Sant and Kinsley make the point quite well that the only true independence from “foreign oil” or let’s say “foreign oil from countries we don’t like” will come from reducing our oil consumption to the point where we are only using our own oil or oil from countries we do like.
So, how do we use an ever decreasing amount of oil while keeping a vibrant economy and a good standard of living. The answer is combination of conservation and substituting renewable energy for oil and other polluting fuels.
The good thing about liquid fuels is that they are easy to transport and relatively easy to distribute (think gas stations on every corner where you can fill up your vehicle’s liquid fuel tank).
Gasoline and diesel fuel are the biggest concerns currently.Oil prices spiked to $147.00 per barrel in mid 2008 before dropping back below $70.00 per barrel as the world’s economies slowed down at the end of the year.The jury is still out as to what caused the spike in prices, but there is no disputing that the $700,000,000,000.00 a year that the United States sends to other countries is an enormous strain on our economy.Think about the outrage generated by the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.We are spending that amount every year on our energy dependence.
Despite the calls of “drill, baby, drill” we can’t drill our way out of this problem.The United States uses 25% the world’s energy and only has 3% of the fossil energy reserves.
Currently, compressed natural gas (CNG) isn’t used very widely as a liquid fuel, but it could be used more widely without completely rebuilding the distribution infrastructure.
Here is T. Boone Pickens talking about his plan to use CNG as a transition fuel:
The problems with the liquid fuels are that they are limited in quantity and they generate greenhouse gases.As Pickens says, the real solution is things like electric vehicles and hydrogen powered vehicles.He views CNG as a bridge fuel.
What do we need to do now?In the short term we need to drive much more fuel efficient vehicles, use public transportation and human powered transportation.
As a longer term solution, we need to vote for politicians who will guide us to a renewable energy transportation future and we need to be prepared for the social and economic transition era away from liquid fuels.It isn’t going to be easy, but it has to be done
Every barrel of oil we don’t consume reduces the market and political power of nations such as Saudi Arabia, no matter where that barrel would have come from. Likewise, every barrel we don’t consume helps the environment and slows global warming, and whether it is foreign or domestic oil makes no difference. Energy conservation is what’s important. Energy independence doesn’t matter. -By Roger Sant and Michael Kinsley Sunday, December 14, 2008; Washington Post