Well the writing is now on the wall and it's written in Arabic. If the politicos and citizens of the United States cannot see it, then we deserve everything we get. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told President Bush, in Riyadh, to take a flying leap. The Saudis will not increase oil production to bring down world oil prices. The king stated that supply and demand are in balance. Hmm.
Does anyone now think that the United States needs to make the entire middle east moot? Is it about time that billions in research funds be released to develop a national alternative energy source? Believe it or not, Congress is considering cutting research funding for all research. What a bunch of pips.
Energy is the driving force for every single thing on this planet. It's not just the cost of gasoline for your car. It shows up in the cost of fertilizers, shipping, trucking, baking, food processing, communications; everything. In 10 years you think gasoline will be expensive? Take a stab at the cost of a loaf of bread. We are already seeing it in the skyrocketing food costs for the third world. Soon it will be in the first world. That means the citizens of the United States.
The time has come to make a stand. We need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and quit whining about this or that. We need to pull out the ragged, and faded American ingenuity, dust it off, and apply it to the most crucial set of events to ever face humans. Do you think I'm being over-dramatic?
Let's explore this for a moment. As the cost of food rises, Americans take it in stride. But, in the third world, starvation becomes the norm. Skirmishes open up over food stockpiles and entire countries are drawn into the fray. Not to worry, it's a long way from home. Well let's imagine that China and India continue their economic and industrial climb creating a whole new middle class all demanding the good life. To have that good life requires oil. China and India continue to increase their consumption of oil at an alarming rate. The United States continues to increase its consumption also. Over then next decade or so we will see a peak in oil production and a slow decline sending the entire world scrambling for the ever precious commodity. Why do I think it will be in the next decade? It's common knowledge that Saudi Arabia has over-stated its crude oil reserves. They might even have said no to an increase in production because of this fact. Peak production is a fact. Sure there are billions of barrels of oil still untapped but getting to it and getting it out of the ground becomes more and more expensive because it is no longer sitting in huge reservoirs. We will see alliances form and break as countries stroke the middle east to keep their supplies shipping. One day, some country will not like being left out and a war will begin. It doesn't matter which countries instigate the conflict. Sooner, not later, the nuclear armed countries will be involved and the scramble to fuel the armies and secure stockpiles will end with some country touching off a nuke and then it will be game on.
If you don't think oil peaks and declines you simply need to look at the island of Bahrain. It only took 70 years for Bahrain to deplete it's reserves. Sure it still pumps some oil but it now makes it's money primarily from natural gas production and refining Saudi oil. Yes, Saudi Arabia has the worlds largest reserves but they also ship more oil than any other producing country. It WILL happen.
The United States needs to ramp up research on energy to unprecedented levels. It needs to define a clear goal and timeframe to complete this goal. Perhaps offer a prize similar to the X-prize for civilian spaceflight. The domestic oil refiners can use their exorbitant profits for their own research but government research funds need to make it to the hands of real innovators. It needs to get into the hands of those who have no stake in the collapse of the oil economy. We need to fund the universities physics programs to solve the problems of fusion energy. We need to fund universities and companies looking at alternative means of generating oil based products such as lubricants. We need to increase efficiency of solar power production, wind turbines, hydroelectric, biofuels and any other technology that can cut the umbilical cord to oil. My preference is to sit out the next world war. If we become involved in the coming storm, life as we all know it and enjoy it will cease to exist.
We are Americans! We, as a country, have overcome every obstacle placed in front of us. Now is the time to do it again. I am reminded of a speech given by an American president,
"First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations--explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon--if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there."
Eight years after that statement, AMERICANS landed on the moon with technology that seems archaic. The feat was so impressive that we, nor can any country, replicate it today. The innovation, ingenuity, strength of will, and American resolve can guide us, and through our commitment we can achieve our ends of world energy independence.
So Speaketh the Chimp
