"Jonathan Goodish" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Jay Masino) wrote:
Despite the fact that mandating ethanol blends would be bad for you, it's
really better for the country in general. Using ethanol, along with
biodiesel, can go along way towards making our country less dependant on
foreign oil. I'm torn. I want some sort of alternate fuel to be


Our "dependence" on foreign oil is a problem of our own creation--not
because of our consumption, but rather because of legislation and
regulation that restricts supply. The United States is presently the
third-largest producer of crude oil in the world, ahead of every OPEC
member except for Saudi Arabia. We could easily be the largest oil
producer if the oil reserves under federal land were permitted to be
explored.


JKG

The above isn't really true. There are not that many places off limits to
petroleum exploration in the US and none of them have enough reserves to
offset imported oil. Every availible drilling rig is drilling and has been
for years. The new higher prices are also allowing production of petroleum
that was previously uneconomic (like tar sands). The reality is that, until
recently, only a small (~20%) percentage of the worlds population used any
meaningful amount of energy and now perhaps 60% is using a meaningful amount
of energy. That is a tripling in the number of consumers and the effects
are obvious.

Personally, I like the strategy of using Middle East oil until it is gone.
The percentage of water produced by Saudi oil fields goes up every year...in
a decade or two, three at the most, we won't care much about the Middle
East.

Mike
MU-2