Alas, the ancient oil gods were not very kind to our vast nation, concerning oil resources. Just about every legitimate study I’ve read says that we (The USA) have only about 3 percent of the world’s remaining recoverable oil under our own soil, and off our own shorelines. Both Canada and Mexico have more oil than we do.
Yet, we Americans consume over 25 percent of the global oil being produced today; and we must, therefore, import an extremely large chunk of it (even with the 400 plus oil rigs already operating on our Gulf Coast.) And, as our U.S. population continues to increase, we will, most assuredly, eventually begin consuming more than our current 25 percent share; but our measly 3 percent of existing oil, will never increase.
We can start drilling in earnest tomorrow in Alaska, in Florida, in Virginia, in the Pacific Northwest, in California, under the Rocky Mountains, and even on the White House Lawn – and we will still only have about 3 percent of the world’s total remaining oil to retrieve. It is a sad, but true , fact.
And, if and when we do begin all that additional drilling, we will still be an ‘oil-poor’ nation, but we may face several more horrendous oil disasters, like the one we’re experiencing right now; and we may end up risking and destroying what we’ve already been blessed with (marvelous fisheries, wondrous wildlife, golden beaches, gorgeous landscapes, pristine mountain ranges, etc).
I believe that we owe it to our children, to our grandchildren, and to future generations of Americans to try and hold on to what we do have now, and not keeping wishing and hoping for something that we obviously don’t have, and that we will never have, like the highly exaggerated Bakken Shale Oil under the Rocky Mountains (that someone, somehow, dreamt contains even more recoverable oil than the entire Middle East). Check Snopes.com, if you’d like to – they’ve already burst this ever expanding Internet Myth.
Our other problem, as we are painfully aware right now, is that most of the Big Oil Companies today are International – i.e, British Petroleum, etc., and both they and OPEC set world oil prices – our nation doesn’t set these prices; and we never will. And the oil-rich nations of the world today could care less what an ‘oil-poor’ nation like us, thinks about their pricing policies or their profit margins.
We also shouldn't celebrate the fact that both BP, and our government leaders, now say that BP will have to pay the billions of dollars in clean-up costs resulting from their callous, incompetent, massive, new oil leak on our Gulf Coast.
When it's eventually cleaned up, and probably even before it's cleaned up (if they can actually contain it with their untested, hastily constructed, deep water domes), they will very quickly pass on their massive new clean-up costs to us, the American gasoline consumers, at their gas pumps.
And I doubt very much that many Americans would advocate ‘Nationalizing’ our own oil production, like most of the oil-rich Arab nations and oil-rich Venezuela have.
When we invaded Iraq, their citizens were still paying only about 25 cents, per gallon of nationalized gasoline. I wonder how many American citizens can even remember when we were able to buy our gasoline, that cheaply.
And after we invaded Iraq, and our soldiers so valiantly secured their oil production facilities for them – guess what they did. They signed a lucrative oil contract – with China – an ‘oil poor’ nation like ourselves, and our greatest competitor today, for foreign oil.
Japan, on the other hand, is a much different story. They, like us, are also an ‘oil-poor’ nation, but they’ve already perfected the ‘all-electric’ car. Japanese commuters can already whiz right past their gasoline stations, not caring at all, what the current price of gasoline may be. They can also easily charge their all electric vehicles for free, in grocery store parking lots, while they shop.
Our American automakers suddenly now want several billion dollars more from our government, to ‘study’ electric car battery technology. I’m guessing they’ll get the money, study the technology for several years, and we’ll end up buying the batteries that we’ll eventually need from Japan, anyway.
I also doubt very seriously that we will ever see Gas Stations in America advertising ‘American Oil Produced Gasoline - $1.50 per Gallon,’ and ‘Foreign Oil Produced Gasoline - $3.50 per Gallon’ – Your Choice - no matter how much more drilling we may do.
Perhaps we could eventually manage to save a few pennies a gallon at the pump, for a very short period of time, by drilling the hell out of our nation’s soil, and under every inch of our nation’s shorelines, but it certainly wouldn’t last very long – only about 3 percent worth – and that surely isn’t much, at all. And after we’ve captured it all, we will still be at the mercy of foreign oil companies, and the oil-rich nations of the world.
So, the question still remains: Is it worth it to drill more? I, for one, think not; especially today, watching what is horrendously unfolding on our own Gulf Coast, right now.
If we continue to covet oil that we don’t have, and that we will never have, instead of pursuing alternative energy, as we should have done decades ago, in my opinion, we’re better off buying it on the world oil market which we will never control, instead of continuing to risk our own land, and seashores, and fragile ecosystems, and the livelihoods of so many American citizens who depend on them, to stubbornly dredge up our measly 3 percent – that is, in reality, not worth very much at all - compared to what we could lose.
©2010, Mr. Ed
I would be so bold as to add another thought - I wrote about it before, many years ago -
MONORAILS - electric trains running Over-head - Amusement Parks have had them for Decades! Japan, and other countries have used them successfully for Decades!
Here, in the East, we have the Baltimore Beltway 695 - about 40 miles South, is the Capital Beltway 495 - various and sundry Interstate Routes and other roads LINK them together. Night and Day, Day in, and Day out, a constant stream of GAS-GUZZLING AUTOMOBILES -
going to and fro, ad infinitum ...
I would venture to guess that other major Metropolitan areas all over this Nation have the exact same circumstances.
WHAT IF - one by one, each and every one of these 'Beltways' had a MONORAIL BUILT?
WHERE - OH WHERE - are the Inventors, Engineers, Entrepreneurs, Investors - Philanthropists - who would have the COMMON SENSE - AND - BALLS - TO DO THIS?
I watch many, many Documentaries and Travel-Logues about Europe and Asia and SEE with my own eyes what is not only POSSIBLE - but has already BEEN DONE ELSEWHERE!
CONCLUSION? OUR GOVERNMENT LEADERS - ARE ALL IDIOTS! TK.
I thought along the San Andréa's fault, there were billions worth of oil barrels?
Not until the fat man stops singing will we ever change. Unless we gag him. lols
I already contacted my legislator in Florida on Day One when Obama changed the ruling before the rig blew up and thankfully he's dead set against more drilling for Florida's future. Unfortunately we may be the minority even now after such dangerous foolishness! This is about corruption deeper than any sin! (and drilling TOO DEEP, TOO RECKLESSLY) -- The RUSH to GREED!
Until we really dig our heels on the ground and REGULATE the runaway trains of Wall Street, Pharma, Banking, Oil companies, Insurance and that misused "in pursue of the American dream" fallacy we are condemned to repeat again and again the same error without hearing no clamors!
Georg
fee
I agree with you 100% Ed. We should have been developing alternative energy solutions like solar & wind power 2-3 decades ago and should already have them available now for most of our energy needs. Nuclear energy is also not the answer. There is no safe place to store nuclear waste and it lasts for a very long time.
Check out this recent article about the Gulf Disaster: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100506/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_blowout_plan
Anna