TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

We Know This Truth To Be Self-Evident

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOHN REINIERS

In My Own Words

Published: July 9, 2008

A "Declaration of Independence" from imported oil requires only self-evident programs. Once again, the best interests of our country have been ignored or politicized.
Arthur Schopenhauer, 19th century German philosopher, wrote: "All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
If it were not for politics, the average Democrat would not support the "Obama energy solution." It is somewhat like his attitude that terrorism has a simple solution; simply treat them like criminals. His solution to the oil crisis is to simply have a policy focused on environmentalism. So we get stuck on wind and solar power and hydrogen fuel cells or electric powered autos, the last two of which need more commercial research. They do have value, but let's focus on "right now" stuff that is available now.
It is "self-evident" that the oil crisis is not limited to the United States. It is global. We use only 20 percent of global oil production. To get back to Schopenhauer's assertion, Democrats "ridicule" and "violently oppose" the absolute necessity for this country to ramp up energy production from multiple sources. And I'm not suggesting anything like John F. Kennedy's "feel good" commitment – which was right for those times – to develop technology to put a man on the moon; but rather, a commitment to economic survival starting with existing energy sources, existing technology and scientific knowledge.
Nobody describes the hardcore and puzzling attitude of Democrats better than Democrat Roy Innis, chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, when he said Democrats were "slowly destroying the energy system we have and are promoting an ... illusory ... system ... harming our poorest families ...This must not and cannot continue."
The effect of the stranglehold that OPEC has on oil production and pricing goes well beyond the poorest among us. Gasoline prices are getting close to cutting the average person off at the knees, so he/she may not even have their legs as a means of transportation.
This article will not focus on off-shore drilling, ANWR, natural gas, nuclear energy, oil sands, oil shale, coal bed methane or refineries. Democrats are resisting production from all these obvious sources. This attitude is destroying our economy. If America ever needed bipartisanship, we need it now.
Rather than President Kennedy, we need to look to President Franklin Roosevelt for guidance. In his State of the Union Address on Jan. 6, 1942, right after Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt told us of his ambitious plans to ramp up production of thousands of planes, tanks, anti-aircraft gun, and millions of tons of merchant shipping. The assembly lines were already there. (There was no need for a "moon shot.") It was mind-boggling, but necessary.
We are there now. It is necessary for us to go on a "war footing" to free us from total dependence on Middle-East oil. Roosevelt said then, what George Bush should say now: "Let no man say it cannot be done. It must be done and we have undertaken to do it."
Aside from tapping into the multiple energy resources we have at our disposal, which FDR would have done in a heartbeat, the other point was then – and is now – that industry had to simply convert existing plants, using materials that went into the production of civilian goods. The U. S. had then the largest concentration of industrial power in the world. These plants went from producing about 4 million cars a year, to a wholesale conversion to military manufacturing. The auto industry shut down civilian production in 1942. This tipped the scales in favor of the Allies, and quickly reversed the tide of the war.
Simply stated, it would take very little for our auto industry to shift from the production of gasoline powered autos to flex-fueled cars, which means able to run on any combination of alcohol or gasoline – far easier and cheaper than the conversion in World War II. In Brazil, 90 percent of all cars sold are flex-fueled. It is a simple matter of using electronic sensors that detect the type of fuel being used, and the blend mix, and adjust the engine combustion automatically. (Computers in your car right now are adjusting your air/fuel ratio – but not ethanol/gas.)
By 2005, Volkswagen, Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota – to mention a few – were manufacturing popular flex-fueled cars in Brazil. Alcohol fuels can be produced from many kinds of biomass in tropical agricultural nations. Certainly Africa could benefit. Right now, Brazil is the largest exporter of ethanol, but we cannot take full advantage of this because of an ill-advised 54-cent tariff per gallon on ethanol, to protect our corn growers. Not only is it cheaper to produce ethanol from sugarcane, but corn is less energy efficient and brought on the global food vs. fuel debate.
You'll notice that Brazil did not go to hybrids, which focus on miles per gallon. Flex-fueled autos focus on cost per mile. It is cost per mile which now is a regressive tax that is killing the poor and average person – worldwide – not just in the U.S. In the old days, I got 12 miles to a gallon, but I could afford it.
If Congress were to enact laws to force the production of flex-fueled cars, the auto industry would in short order break the back of the oil cartel. (And Brazil now has more than 3 million cars on the road running on pure ethanol.) Also, we know from history, this would motivate every major manufacturer on the globe to switch production over to flex-fuel autos. (By the way, the first American flex-fueled auto was the 1908 T model Ford which was fitted with a carburetor with adjustable jetting allowing the use of gasoline or ethanol.)
The short answer is that not only do we have access to oil right here, but we also have the technology to move beyond fossil fuels right now. What we don't have is the political will to do so, given the Democrat majority in a Congress, which is preoccupied with subpoenaing Republican staffers for hearings to uncover the history behind Bush's "failing" administration, rather than letting Republican energy legislation – among other bills – get to the floor for debate. (They may be good for America, but this is an election year. Republicans have to look bad.)
Gee, one has to wonder why the administration is failing, if it is, and why nothing important gets done in Congress. Democrats came to power in 2006 and were going to reduce the price of gasoline, as well as improve our economy.
Talk about proactive leadership. And we're going to re-elect these people in 2008 in a landslide.

John Reiniers, a regular columnist for Hernando Today, lives in Spring Hill.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT