Big Oil is a convenient target at home, but elsewhere in the world, oil signifies prosperity. They want more and there’s nothing we can do about it.
We’ve all heard the relentless demagoguery from every major presidential candidate regarding oil and so-called “energy independence.”
Not only are presidential candidates promoting dangerous fallacies about energy but, last I checked, they weren’t crisscrossing the nation in chariots hitched to teams of flying unicorns.
Many promising alternative energies will help mitigate fossil fuel consumption, but civilization, sadly, is not ready to run on switch grass. And jumping the gun can lead to harmful unintended consequences.
For a lesson in environmental pie-in-the-sky governance, we need not look further than our corn-based ethanol fiasco — an unmitigated failure that is only getting worse.
Government, on both the local and national level, has mandated and subsidized ethanol, creating an artificial market that incentivizes production of a wasteful energy. Countless farmers have abandoned growing food to grow fuel — on the government’s dime — leading to spikes in food prices. Corn prices, for instance, have increased by over 50 percent from two years ago.
The kicker, of course, is that experts — from free marketers to progressive environmentalists — are increasingly in agreement that ethanol likely pollutes the Earth nearly as much as oil.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of experts from industrialized nations, maintains, “The overall environmental impacts of ethanol and biodiesel can very easily exceed those of petrol and mineral diesel.”
Abandoned crops have also contributed to a worldwide price jump in food, which has, in part, led to riots and rationing across the globe.
Americans may be able to shrug off the high price of corn flakes, but in developing nations, “sustainability” comes in a distant 2,000th to feeding your children.
Gas prices, meanwhile, continue to rise. A number of economists have theorized that if the cost of oil becomes prohibitive, consumption will drop. Well, at over $119 a barrel (at this moment), their wish is granted. We’ll see how it all plays out. Remember, though, oil is not just useful when driving your kids to their dance class.
Across Europe, where oil is also used to generate electricity, rising prices haven’t persuaded power plants to turn to solar panels and wind farms. No, plants are increasingly converting to coal — a dirtier fuel than oil. And, as most people know, China builds coal plants faster than it imprisons dissidents.
One way to alleviate some of the price strain would be to drill for more oil. Gasp. These days, telling someone you want to extract oil from the tundra of Alaska . . . well, you might as well tell them you want to stick an oil-drenched dagger into the heart of Gaia.
Yet, if we won’t drill, someone else certainly will. Brazil’s state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro recently announced the discovery of an oil field holding 8 billion barrels of recoverable crude. Then, last week, according to Bloomberg News, another field was discovered in Brazil with the potential to produce 33 billion barrels of oil.
If this turns out to be true, Brazil will have stumbled onto the third- largest oil field in history. Who knows how many more are out there? Is anyone under the impression that Brazil — or any other nation — will hold off drilling to keep the Earth’s temperature down 2 degrees Celsius over the next century?
More alternative energy is a noble goal. Yet, some balance to this near- fanaticism directed at oil must be found.
You can despise Big Oil all day, but it’s not going anywhere. Candidates would be wise to be honest about this fact, rather than pandering and making promises about “energy independence” they can’t possibly keep.
Reach columnist David Harsanyi at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@ .
