Energy Wars

Author Chris Balish says the way to put the brakes on high gas prices is to do the unthinkable: leave your car behind! In his new book, "How to Live Well Without Owning a Car," Balish argues that getting rid of the ride can actually increase your quality of life. An excerpt.

A speech delivered to the Energy Forum: "The Global Energy Market: Comprehensive Strategies to Meet Geopolitical and Financial Risks," at the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, on May 21, 2008. The purpose of this talk is twofold: First, I will briefly cover some of the highlights of a paper co-authored with my colleague at the Naval Postgraduate School, Daniel Moran, titled "The Militarization of Energy Security."[1] This paper was published in the January 2008 issue of our e-journal Strategic Insights and is the opening chapter in an edited volume that will be published by Routledge in the summer of 2008 titled: Energy Security and Global Politics: The Militarization of Resource Management.

transportation resources

PDF file with the latest information about U.S. Transportation usage... Lots of graphs

Excellent graphs and evaluation of US energy usage

The BusinessWeek story cited below, along with King Abdullah's April announcement that they will not be opening new fields, provides evidence that we are near - or perhaps even at - Peak Oil. 1. It may be political peaking;: perhaps the Saudi's could invest to increase production, but choose not to (an obviously sensible decision). 2. It may be geological peaking, if the Saudi's are unable to increase production. But whether geological or political peaking, the long-discussed event may be starting now.

Those of you who do not believe Peak Oil Theory should first make sure you fully understand it. According to this theory, after a reservoir has been depleted by half of its total volume, the output begins to plateau or remain constant for some unknown period. At some later time (which is unpredictable) the output begins a permanent decline of variable duration (which is also unpredictable) until the remaining quantity of oil is no longer economically feasible to extract with current technology. Therefore, Peak Oil Theory does not state that the earth is running out of oil per say. It states that the earth is running out of inexpensive oil, otherwise known as conventional oil - the high-grade oil that comes out by drilling on land and requires minimal refinement costs.

If U.S. President George W. Bush wants to boost Republican chances of holding on to the White House and keeping Democratic gains in Congress to a minimum in the November elections, he might consider taking an attack on Iran before the end of his administration off the table. Of course, that's probably the last thing Bush-and his particularly belligerent vice president, Dick Cheney-will do.

While gas prices of $4 per gallon may feel steep to Americans, Palestinian drivers in the Gaza Strip have faced highs of $50 per gallon. "The people here cannot afford that kind of money, especially now," says Waseem Khazendar, who along with Fayaz Anan has tackled the problem by building an electric car. Their prototype - a Peugeot that runs for 110 miles on a single charge from a standard electrical outlet - costs just $1.50 a charge, Mr. Anan says. "We are trying to help everyone here get through a difficult period."

Larry Klayman's non-profit watchdog group Freedom Watch has filed a lawsuit against the Organization of Petroleum Exporting States, charging the cartel with engaging in "economic terrorism" by fixing the price of oil. The suit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, and announced by Klayman, a former U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division prosecutor who helped break up AT&T in the early 1980s.

Bryan Carisone, a heating and air-conditioning contractor in Raritan, N.J., "absolutely loves" his new GMC Denali XL, an extra-large sport utility vehicle with televisions built into the leather seats. But in June, one week after he bought it, he pulled into a station on a near-empty tank and watched the total climb higher and higher - to $109.

US GDP per capita, and US median family income, in thousands of chained 2000 US dollars. (GDP from the BEA, median family income from Data 360, and population from the Census Bureau). Bottom: Percentage of persons who responded to the question "Taken all together, how would you say things are these days‐‐would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?" with each of the three options. (General Social Survey).

The U.S. government said Thursday Canada holds the world's second-largest oil reserves, taking into account Alberta oil sands previously considered too expensive to develop.

What if oil prices continue to rise with no end in sight? Even now with gas at $4.50 a gallon on the west coast, it's becoming difficult for many people to fill up their gas tanks. What's going to happen when it goes to $5.00, $6.00, $7.00 a gallon, or even higher? This will have an effect on all levels of society - from the poor, all the way to the White House. The entire economy of the country and the free world may be at stake. It could lead to war.

For those who didn't happen to notice, perhaps because it wasn't exactly front-page news in most of the country, NASA's James Hansen, the man who first alerted Congress to the dangers of global warming 20 years ago, returned to testify before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming this week. This time around, he was essentially offering a final warning on the subject.

As gas prices keep rising, more and more creative energy-saving ideas are coming out. Senator John Warner has asked the US Energy Department to investigate reimposing a national speed limit. And Utah is putting most of its state employees on a four-day workweek.

On Wednesday morning, while walking near my home, I yelled, "Hi" to a neighbor. "Got a new car?" I said, eyeing a sleek little black sedan in his driveway. "Yeah," he said effusively. His new fuel-sipping four-cylinder was a night-and-day contrast with his prior vehicle, a hulking pickup costing him $100 a fill-up.

The fundamental lessons for a country suddenly facing an energy crisis and an uncertain economy ought to be clear enough. Drive slower -- when you have to drive at all, that is. Seek alternative forms of transportation. Turn off the lights you don't need, and don't be wasteful. Oh, and by all means, don't go lunging for the panic button.

While the U.S. oil industry want access to more federal lands to help reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries. A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007.

Facing the facts and acting to resolve them can defeat peak Oil and Global Warming, both civilization killers. A primary fact is that our current infrastructure is the cause of these killers. We built the infrastructure. We can build better. The purpose of this essay is a call to action to defeat these civilization killers by changing the way we govern infrastructure from specifying HOW to build it, to stating WHAT is needed and allowing a free market to find the rare individuals with lucky breakthroughs that can build sustainable infrastructure. We must get lucky and discover the energy equivalents of lasers, personal computers, cell phones, the Internet, etc....