America’s Addiction: No Easy Way to Get Foreign-Oil Free

How much gasoline do you use each month? How high would gas prices have to rise for you to carpool, walk, or ride your bike? What if oil were suddenly unavailable? How would that affect your life?

President Bush might have been right when he said "America is addicted to oil" in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, January 31, 2006.

In 2005, the U.S. used over 20 million barrels a day, with about 60 percent of that oil imported from abroad.

In the speech, Bush called for replacing "more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025." More specifically, the Bush administration would like to reduce the total daily U.S. oil demand by about 5.26 million barrels via energy alternatives like hybrid cars with rechargeable batteries, hydrogen-powered cars, and new ethanol products.

According to Alan Hubbard, the director of the president’s National Economic Council, new technologies could replace the equivalent of what we’re expect to import from the Middle East by 2025.

"Just an example"

Just a day after the State of the Union, President Bush’s Energy Secretary Samuel Bodeman explained that Bush’s statement was "purely an example" of how to move past a petroleum-based economy.

Since oil is a freely traded product that is bought and sold all over the world by private firms, the U.S. can’t reduce imports from a specific region. We have to decrease imports in general to lessen our dependence on the Middle East.

Even with new technologies, Hubbard said, the U.S. will be importing plenty of oil in 2025.

Energy as security, but forever tied to the environment

Although energy is forever tied to the environment, President Bush did not frame his energy proposal as an environmental issue, but rather a security measure.

Although experts say conservation is essential to energy independence, he did not propose conservation measures, and traditionally President Bush and Republicans have not supported higher fuel-economy requirements or, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards.

Many experts and car makers say that a gas tax would be the best way to curb the oil import demand, but such a tax is against Bush’s philosophy of a free-market system. The administration prefers to focus on new drilling and technologies.

The administration is pushing for cellulose ethanol, which cuts down pollution and is cheaper than corn-based ethanol. This gasoline additive would probably have broad support in Congress, since environmentalists approve and defense hawks like the idea that it would cut down on imported oil. Even American auto manufactures are in favor, since cellulose ethanol could give them a competitive advantage over foreign hybrid cars.

However, cellulose ethanol is expensive to produce, about $3.40 a gallon. Further, distribution would be difficult because the ethanol can corrode pipelines.

Still, about 600 U.S. filling stations already offer a blend of ethanol and gasoline called E85. Many drivers don’t know if their cars are capable of using the ethanol, so the resource is underused.

History of energy reform shows it’s a tough road

The debate over energy independence dates back to 1973. That year, the U.S. experienced a major oil shortage that caused gasoline prices to double and folks to wait in line at the pump. Saudi Arabia had cut off oil exports to the United States since the U.S. was aiding Israel in an Arab-Israeli battle in the Gaza Strip. The crisis caused President Nixon to announce energy independence as the new national goal. (Sound familiar?) He challenged the nation to be completely self-sufficient by the end of the decade, which would have been 25 years ago.

President Jimmy Carter also proposed a government-sponsored research program to convert coal into synthetic fuels. It worked well in the lab, but gas prices dropped before it had a chance to dent the market.

In the 1990s, battery-powered cars were the hot idea, but creating an affordable, long-lasting battery proved difficult. Of course, hybrid cars became popular in the late 1990s.

A couple of years ago, hydrogen fuel cell cars were all the rage, and even made it into President Bush’s 2003 State of the Union Address. Hydrogen fuel cells are less promising now since fossil fuels have proved to be the best way to produce hydrogen.

For more on energy policy, click here.

Freaky facts

Here are some of the reasons that it’s so hard for the U.S. to become independent from foreign oil:

• We use a lot of oil: The U.S. population makes up just 5 percent of the world’s population, but we consume 25 percent of the world’s oil supply.
• Since SUVs and large trucks have become enormously popular over the last decade, the fuel economy average for all vehicles has actually dropped 6% since 1988. We are using more oil than we did fifteen years ago.
• We don’t produce the amount of oil that we use: The U.S. produces a little less than half of the oil it consumes. It imports the larger half from abroad, mainly from the Persian Gulf Region.
• 17 percent of U.S. oil is imported from Canada, 13.5 percent from Mexico, and 12 percent from Venezuela.
• We don’t have enough oil to sustain us in the long- term: If the U.S. were forced to rely on its own oil production and reserves, it would run out of oil in four years and three months.

There’s no quick fix to the energy question.

There is no miracle solution to the U.S. energy crisis. Rather, a healthy energy policy will combine a variety of initiatives.

And the basic consensus is that gas prices will go higher before they go lower because of increased demand growth, slow-moving supply, slow-moving refinery growth, and international tension.

What energy-crisis solutions would you propose? Do you see U.S. dependence on foreign oil as a major problem? Are you in favor of conservation, domestic drilling, new technologies, or all or none of the above? Do your representatives know what you think?

Your input matters

Your representatives in Congress DO care what you think. Especially now -- 2006 is an election year and many representatives will be looking to reconnect with their constituents. Let your congressmen and women know what you think! Give your senators a piece of your mind! To find your reps, click here.

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Article Posted on: 2/3/2006