Oil is much in the news lately. Its spilling out into the Gulf at an alarming rate. And it’s used in exchange for hundreds of Billions of dollars from the USA to some countries that are not exactly an enemy of the USA and seek to harm the people of the USA.
OK – Gulf oil first. This is a problem of potential world problems. If the micro-globules of oil get into the ocean currents, all fish in all the oceans could be wiped out. That means this is a worldwide problem and not a BP problem. Imagine a time when the oceans population was reduced by 90%. People all over the world would starve. It would even destroy the Omega-3 industry. This needs to be handled with more action and less political photo ops. The USA should be inviting the entire world into helping resolve stopping this oil leak. And of course, the local people could be employed to help with the clean up. That would be a good use of the stimulus money, which has dripped through the politicians fingers so thoroughly without any tangible “work-ready” results that politicians are now asking for more money. This story will go on.
One issue is that it shows that we have a pseudo college substitute teacher who asked to work for free to get a college teaching position on his resume who is without any management nor work experience running the Gulf clean up. And his way of doing things is the Chicago way. If you do not know what the Chicago way is, then you probably voted for the current President. Just when the USA needs a strong LEADER, we have a President without the abilities to act in a manner that breeds confidence, gets things accomplished and in the best interest of the United States of America and the World.
Then, there is the source of OIL for the USA. About 17% comes from the Middle East. In my way of thinking, the United States needs to find another source to replace that 17%. That would solve two issues with one action. And then there is the looming Venezuela problem. If they stopped sending the USA it’s oil, the USA would be in for tough times. This is another source of oil that needs to be replaced.
How do we replace all those millions of barrels of oil? For one, we could drill in Alaska. In 5 years or less, that would add a significant amount of domestic oil. Another thing that will happen in a few years occurs when the new fuel standards for autos comes into place. That reduction for gasoline will significantly reduce the oil that is needed to be imported into the USA to be “cracked” into gasoline.
All this will take time. During that time, the USA needs to bring on as much oil source as we can find.
Why do we need so much OIL? Gasoline is only one part. Our cosmetic, plastic and pharmaceutical industries use most of the rest of the oil. Our modern world uses oil for a wide variety of uses.
Barely skimmed the surface on this subject. More later. You are encouraged to comment on the facts.
And that’s the way I see it…
Straight Take With Jay Clifford
