I asked my good friend COgirl to write a piece about our current energy crisis. She is proficient in the field as she and her husband are engineers who have worked in the field their entire careers.

I wish to thank her for taking the time to write this post.

Here is her unedited post:

The Congressional hearings last week with oil company executives were a big joke. The question is whether or not the American public is smart enough to see through it all or whether or not they can push the media views aside to see the truth.

Prices are set in the world market which many people in the U.S. do not realize also includes other countries such as China and India., i.e., the world does not revolve around us. There is a strong correlation between economic growth and energy consumption, so demand is on the rise. Also, oil is traded in U.S. dollars. So as exchange rates work against us, traders in the world market increase what they are willing to pay for oil. Prices go up for us, but not for everyone.

Our thirst for oil is nearly insatiable. While it’s “pc” to talk about alternative fuels and renewable energy, the truth of the matter is that the majority of oil consumed in this country is used by the transportation sector, meaning our cars. According to the Energy Information Agency, in February over 60% of the oil we consumed went for gasoline and jet fuel. That percentage will go up over the summer as refiners reduce heating oil production in order to meet gasoline demand during the travel season.

There are not enough hybrid cars being produced and purchased to make a significant dent in that for some time to come. If the life “expectancy” of a car is 10 years, then we replace 10% of our auto fleet each year. Even if all of new cars were hybrids, it will take at least that long to increase average fuel efficiency. In the meantime population growth puts more cars on the road, so gasoline consumption in total rises.

What have our lawmakers in Washington done for us? Well, they’ve curtailed the only tool we have to fight rising oil prices, domestic production. No drilling in Alaska. No offshore drilling. No drilling in the west. Oil shale reserves aren’t allowed to be explored and extraction techniques tested and commercialized. No refineries can be built. Yet, Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation to SUE OPEC for setting high oil prices and limiting supply. Limiting supply? Now that’s novel.

Who profits from the higher oil prices? Washington likes to point the finger at “big oil”, but the dirty little secret is that state and federal governments make out like bandits. According to data from the California Energy Commission, when the price per gallon was $3.89 (April 28, 2008), taxes accounted for $.65 of the price paid at the pump. Crude oil was $2.83 of that. The remaining $.41 went for refining, transportation, marketing and profits. Would Congress dare to look in the mirror?

What can be done? Both sides have to give something. We have got to allow more domestic exploration and production. It takes 10 years to bring a new oil field online so this should have been done years ago, like during the Clinton administration. But we also MUST increase our mileage standards. This has to be a comprehensive plan that also encourages the development of new automobile technology and fuels.

I’m not terribly optimistic. The hearings last week were a charade. I don’t have faith that political differences and grandstanding can be put aside. This tit for tat mentality has gotten us where we are today and I don’t see an end in sight. After all, we have an election in November and when that’s over with, they only have 2 years to work on the next. The only shot we average citizens have for getting the message out is between now and November. Let your candidates know what you want.

Guest Post Written By COgirl

Note In the initial printing of this piece I inadvertantly left out the final paragraph. It is now there. Please excuse this inexcusable error.

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