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America simply can't afford to keep spending billions of dollars buying something we can produce right here at home. We have natural resources like billions of barrels of oil, plenty of natural gas reserves, more coal than any other country in the world, lots of places to build dams for hydroelectricity and some of the safest nuclear power technology in the world. By maximizing these “natural” resources, we can become energy independent. This would not only keep down the cost of gasoline and nearly everything we buy, but it would create hundreds of thousands of jobs right here in the USA and really help our economy.
I want you to know that I have been involved in the petroleum (by products of fuels manufacturing) industry since 1965. So, I know a little more than the average citizen about energy, their regulations and uses.
I know I will get flack for making the following statements. Wind and solar will probably never provide more than 5 percent of our energy needs. Ethanol is a very poor fuel. It yields ~30 percent less energy/gallon than gasoline, so it is a negative in fuel efficiency. It is corrosive; so, it can only be shipped in rail cars or tank trucks. It uses corn and ~1,400 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol. Its use of corn caused food prices to escalate 10-15 percent between 2006 and 2007. It is supported by a $0.45/gallon tax credit (our tax dollars at work) to producers. We need to kill this $6.0B/year subsidy. It hasn't cut oil imports, kept gasoline prices down, doesn't cut air pollution and it may add to greenhouse gas emissions. Any business or product that can't make it without subsidies of taxes should never be permitted to exist. We support alternate energy sources, but only if they can make it without a subsidy from us.
Did you know that our US Regulatory agencies cost us ~$1.75 trillion/year and create ~3,500 new regulations each year? Our manufacturing future and associated jobs is being controlled by out-of-control regulations. Looking for spending cuts? Start here. A 50 percent cut in the number of regulatory agencies could save us ~$800M/year.
With all the news about the nuclear plant meltdown in Japan, did you know the US is on the verge of making safe nuclear reactors which can't melt down? They are called Generation IV. They use very little nuclear material, operate more cost effective while virtually eliminating our long-term nuclear waste storage problems.
Back when I began my career in the petroleum industry, America's dependence on foreign oil was ~20 percent. Today it is over 60 percent. That's right, we have become more energy dependent because we have never had a serious energy independence strategy. We must stop making other countries rich at our expense. Having our own energy strategy makes both common and economic sense; and, it makes natural security sense too.
I urge everyone to call their elected government officials (especially those who voted to extend the ethanol tax credit for another year) and demand they put our energy independence and strategy at the top of their list of items to get done now.
I want you to know that I have been involved in the petroleum (by products of fuels manufacturing) industry since 1965. So, I know a little more than the average citizen about energy, their regulations and uses.
I know I will get flack for making the following statements. Wind and solar will probably never provide more than 5 percent of our energy needs. Ethanol is a very poor fuel. It yields ~30 percent less energy/gallon than gasoline, so it is a negative in fuel efficiency. It is corrosive; so, it can only be shipped in rail cars or tank trucks. It uses corn and ~1,400 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol. Its use of corn caused food prices to escalate 10-15 percent between 2006 and 2007. It is supported by a $0.45/gallon tax credit (our tax dollars at work) to producers. We need to kill this $6.0B/year subsidy. It hasn't cut oil imports, kept gasoline prices down, doesn't cut air pollution and it may add to greenhouse gas emissions. Any business or product that can't make it without subsidies of taxes should never be permitted to exist. We support alternate energy sources, but only if they can make it without a subsidy from us.
Did you know that our US Regulatory agencies cost us ~$1.75 trillion/year and create ~3,500 new regulations each year? Our manufacturing future and associated jobs is being controlled by out-of-control regulations. Looking for spending cuts? Start here. A 50 percent cut in the number of regulatory agencies could save us ~$800M/year.
With all the news about the nuclear plant meltdown in Japan, did you know the US is on the verge of making safe nuclear reactors which can't melt down? They are called Generation IV. They use very little nuclear material, operate more cost effective while virtually eliminating our long-term nuclear waste storage problems.
Back when I began my career in the petroleum industry, America's dependence on foreign oil was ~20 percent. Today it is over 60 percent. That's right, we have become more energy dependent because we have never had a serious energy independence strategy. We must stop making other countries rich at our expense. Having our own energy strategy makes both common and economic sense; and, it makes natural security sense too.
I urge everyone to call their elected government officials (especially those who voted to extend the ethanol tax credit for another year) and demand they put our energy independence and strategy at the top of their list of items to get done now.
