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It is my understanding that the four biggest countries we get oil from are (in order of biggest to smallest)....
1) United States (domestic production)
2) Canada
3) Mexico
4) Saudi Arabia
I read somewhere that if we could increase the average mileage of American vehicles by 7 mph, we it would be the same as not importing any oil from the Saudis. To me that seems like a worthy goal for the country to pursue.
It is my understanding that the four biggest countries we get oil from are (in order of biggest to smallest)....
1) United States (domestic production)
2) Canada
3) Mexico
4) Saudi Arabia
I read somewhere that if we could increase the average mileage of American vehicles by 7 mph, we it would be the same as not importing any oil from the Saudis. To me that seems like a worthy goal for the country to pursue.
Followed by Venezuela.
I agree we need to get off of foreign oil, especially oil coming from the middle east. I think we need to start going after shale oil. We have more shale oil than twice the oil reserves that Saudi Arabia has in total.
Conservation and increased fuel efficiency are a great way to start, but our oil consumption increases with our GDP. We increase fuel efficiency in cars, and we just burn more up because our population and economy keep growing.
Back in the 50s, our population was around 150 million people and we were the Saudi Arabia of the world. We exported more oil than anyone else. Now in just a little over a half a century later all those oil fields in Texas and Oklahoma that we thought would never dry up are gone, and we have twice the population we did in the 50s, and we need much more oil to just maintain our standard of living. More people are here, so more people need oil for vehicles, home heating oil, plastics and such.
So while I agree with your seven mile per hour theory, in reality increasing fuel efficiency only seven miles per hour will only keep us from further losing ground. I actually think we are headed for a major worldwide oil shortage in the next thirty to forty years. Primarily because of the economic growth we are seeing in Asia.
Imagine how much oil China is going to use in the next century as their economy continues to grow? Soon they will have the second largest economy in the world, then eventually they will overtake ours. Now imagine all those Chinese with automobiles and nice warm homes.
We need to start making plans now because if the world oil supplies start to dwindle we will see a depression very much like the one we saw in the last century. Only this time it will be a much longer depression, and it will be based on a shortage of valuable crude oil, and not one based on bad economic policy like the last one.
we need to get off of oil period... it is dirty and so 20th century.. but its hard to do when some of the richest companies in the world are oil companies.. they don't have to diversify.. when they own everything...and when they don't diversify.. we all are slave consumers to their profits and existence... unless you want to live in a cabin with living conditions of early pioneers... governments need to step in.. but thats hard to do as well when your government officials own oil or part of oil companies...
Monopolies are wonderful if you happen to own them. Buy Exxon stock if you want a piece of the action. If you cannot afford to play then leave the casino but be sure to buy enough oil at fixed prices to support all the privileged players.
This seems to be the attitude of many on this board and in this government.
Once we get a congress that will reduce exploration and production regulations and environmental constraints we can pursue U.S. oil reserves. That would be a good start. We need the oil for more than just driving around and heating homes.
That Saudi Arabia and Dubai are now buying into U.S. and British trading markets is not a good sign. These actions are a result of decades of buying oil from OPEC countries, not a result of GWBush being president, unless you want to offer equal responsibility to every president and congress of the last 50 years.
I think we should definitely get of foreign oil for geopolitical and environmental reasons. I think we should do what we can to replace foreign oil with other types of energy and/or reduce the amount used by conserving energy.
To me the idea of replacing old oil tech with new oil tech rather than renewable energy sources is less than ideal. It's as if we were all using horse-drawn carriages, and then someone came along and showed us an engine, and we used that engine to build mechanical horses. Just not the best use of assets.
Ok, not the best analogy, but the thought of folks riding around in buggies pulled by robo-horses is funny to me.
I do like the idea of getting off oil, but it won't happen for quite a while. Remember, oil is still cheaper than bottled water so strictly speaking, it's still quite a bargain even at current price levels. We would have to see oil double or even triple its current price before we see any real effort to get us off crude as our primary energy source.
Plus, keep in mind, as oil becomes more and more scarce the price will go up. Which means the more and more dependent we are on more and more expensive oil, the more and more money the oil companies will make. So there is no real incentive for the oil companies to do anything but sit back and keep raking in the profits as we become more and more dependent on foreign oil.
As you can see, Saudi Arabia accounts for less than 25% of our imports, we get most of our oil from the north and the south of the border. I have always believed that we were in Iraq for the oil, I am simply too old to trust this garbage about freedom and democracy spreading like a virus, funded by our tax dollars. So, I was disappointed that even on the oil front, we are not really gaining a lot.
It does not make any sense why we are there!
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