Currently
there is a
commercial running
on television that
shows how this
country has become
dependent upon
foreign oil to keep
us going. The man
behind the scene
advocates us using
more natural gas as
well as wind power.
He goes on to show
how our dependence
has grown over the
past thirty or forty
years.
I’m getting various
statistics ranging
from 60% to 70% of
all of our oil is
imported from other
countries. The
records show that we
imported 24% in
1970.
The statistics run
all over the map.
It’s hard to know
which one is
correct.
I do know whatever
the number is, it’s
entirely too much.
I well remember the
oil embargo of the
early seventies. It
wasn’t pretty. Long
lines, frustrated
motorists…lots of
businesses failed.
We should have
learned our lesson
then.
But we didn’t.
No, we just kept on
driving as if the
oil would never stop
flowing. And it’s
going to kill us if
we don’t fix it. The
politicians all talk
about something
called an ‘energy
policy’. I don’t
know about you, but
I’ve never seen or
heard of one. I
cannot think of any
presidential
administration that
has publicly
announced that …
“This is our energy
policy…”.
We’ve all heard
words bantered
around by various
politicians over
these past thirty or
forty years, but
nothing with any
amount of substance.
Certainly nothing
that would indicate
our desire to wean
ourselves off of
imported oil,
especially from
countries that do
not like us.
I’ve said this many
times that I
truthfully believe
that there are
probably ten or
fifteen people in
the entire world who
have the ability to
control the economic
destiny of our
country. I believe
that’s the number of
oil ministers in
different countries
who can make
decisions as to how
much oil we receive
and what it will
cost us.
Think about this.
The Ford Model ‘T”
got better gas
mileage than most of
the cars and trucks
on the road today.
Until a few years
ago, we had been the
world leaders of the
automotive industry,
why haven’t we been
requiring better
fuel efficiencies
all these years
since Henry Ford
first made
automobiles
available to the
general public?
The oil companies
support the
Republican party and
the auto industry
supports the
Democratic party.
How can the ordinary
folks come out
ahead? Only in the
past year or so has
the term… ‘Fuel
efficient’ even been
mentioned in
automobile sales and
advertising. Notice
the ads on
television this
evening….some tell
you that you can get
four hundred miles
on one tank of gas.
Of course they fail
to tell you how big
the gas tank is.
Four hundred miles
on ten gallons is
one thing and quite
another on a tank
holding thirty
gallons.
Why haven’t we as a
nation been
exploring alternate
sources of energy
all of these years?
The wind farm and
solar energy people
bounce from pillar
to post when their
tax credits get
reduced or expire
altogether. Who
wants to be in a
business where you
aren’t sure if you
can pay for the
project and are at
the whim of a fickle
congress? Why
haven’t we been
promoting better and
more efficient
energy sources as
the years wore on
and our oil imports
were rising? It
appears to me that
someone was asleep
at the switch.
It doesn’t take a
Rhodes Scholar to
see that our nation
runs on energy and
if that energy
disappears or is
priced out of our
reach our entire
economy will
collapse. When I was
in Europe a few
weeks ago, I paid
about $165 to fill
up a rent car. When
someone says to me…
well, then four
dollar a gallon gas
isn’t so bad….I tell
them the reason the
Europeans pay so
much is because they
don’t have any oil
of their own.
We do.
The current hype of
the day is to force
the oil companies to
drill on land they
already have leased.
That’s wonderful in
theory, but who
wants to sink
fifteen or twenty
million bucks (or
more) into a lease
that can’t produce
enough to make it
worthwhile?
Meanwhile we have
proven resources in
areas throughout our
nation where it is
economically
feasible to drill.
Why have bans on
drilling off the
coast of Florida,
when the Chinese are
punching holes in
the ocean like
crazy? If we are so
concerned over the
possibility of an
environmental
disaster, which
country do you think
is more progressive
when it comes to the
environment….China
or the United
States?
In case you don’t
know the answer to
this one, watch the
news today about
what the air looks
like at the upcoming
Olympics.
There are a lot of
people out here a
lot smarter than I
am, but when the
solution to
something as
important as the
need for a firm
energy policy is
obvious to all of
us, shouldn’t the
people we elect be
able to see the same
thing?
Or is this wishful
thinking?
