What Is Goin’ On?

I do not understand gas and oil. Oil is almost $90 per barrel crude and about $3.10 a gallon in the car. I thought the world was supposed to end when it reached $50 per barrel. I thought I was paying $3.00+ per gallon when it was $50 per barrell. I know damn good and well it doesn’t cost any more to pump it out of the ground today than it did a couple of years ago. So how come it’s almost $100 per barrell?

But why dwell on something you can’t do anything about i.e., the current price of oil? Congress surely isn’t going to do anything about it. Never has, never will. So let’s focus on tomorrow. How do we get away from being subservient to oil? To answer that question, I wanted to interview someone who has a plan. David Sandalow is an expert on energy, a former Assistant Secretary of State and a Senior Director on the National Security Council staff. Now, he is a Senior Fellow on Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institute. His current book is “Freedom From Oil: How the Next President Can End the United States’ Oil Addiction.” David is dead serious about reducing our dependence on oil. You can read the book or visit the Freedom From Oil, but regardless, you need to get your heart, mind and soul set to live with less oil.

David is ready to do his part. He has a prototype car that he plugs in every night, charges the battery and drives up to 30 miles without ever burning a drop of gasoline. Think about the independence such a vehicle could provide to all those people who drive less than 30 miles a day to and from work. But you can’t buy David’s car, at least, not right now, but he expects it and others to be available in 3 or 4 years. Check out the Chevy Volt.

I remember the “oil crisis” during the Carter Administration and the long lines at the pump. What I really don’t understand is why, 30 years later, we are virtually no further along weaning America from its dependency on oil. Remember all those years ago when we all thought we were going to have to ride around in small cars. The next thing I know, I am buying a SUV. But, this is not my fault!

I think the problem has been a total failure of leadership, political leadership, corporate leadership, any and all kinds of leadership. Our leaders never chose a direction away from oil dependence. This is a bipartisan failure, Democrat and Republican. But, what is done is done. Blaming all or any of them is not productive and doesn’t save a drop of gas. (In fact, it may give you gas to think about it!)

David’s goal is to encourage us to chose the road out of this dilemma. He tells the story of the American General commanding the western forces in Iraq who wondered why he had to endanger the lives of his men and women delivering fuel to run electric generators. Surrounded by an abundance of wind and sun, he requested generators that could run on these alternative sources of energy. The Pentagon is working on it. You would think they would have thought of this one after 1991 or at least after they started painting all their vehicles tan for fun and sun in the wind and sun of the deserts of the Middle East.

David sees hope in solving the dependency problem because of two basic differences between today and the past. First, while this has always been tagged as a national security issue, national security has changed since 9-11. Today, it is easier to image oil producing countries like Venezuela and Iran intentionally depriving us of oil and attempting to disrupt our economy. Second, there is a lot of money to be made by companies that solve the problems associated with global warming. It is precisely because there is money to be made that we will be able to solve the problem. Making money motivates.

He mentions meeting with Newt Gingrich and Howard Dean on separate occasions and both offering the same essential solution: a massive, Manhatten type project to develop alternative fuels and alternative energy sources.

It seems the problem for consumers is the lack of available choices. Our market economy gives us thousands of choices with regard to most things we want to buy, except when it comes to cars. When it comes to cars, we basically have one choice: buy something that burns oil. He points to Brazil which has replaced about half its fuel consumption with ethanol. If Brazil can do it, why can’t we? Simple, a lack of leadership.

How long will it take to obtain this freedom from oil? David says a generation, 20 years. Why? Well, there are about 240 million cars on the road in America and we can’t afford to just scrap them. They will have to wear out. (Based on the longevity of cars, I estimate that all cars on the road today will be ready for the scrap pile by April 1, 2010, so I am not sure why it will take 18 more years.)

According to my calculations, about the time we achieve independence from oil, social security will go bust, and I will be wearing diapers. But at least David gives me hope that my grandchildren will have a greater appreciation for conservation and preservation than my generation.