OPEC Is Getting Worried: Keep Up The Good Work!
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 09.16.06
New evidence has emerged that the US economy is becoming less oil intensive (caveat: this does not infer lower carbon intensity - that would require less coal to be used). We wish we could attribute this good news to increased popularity of Mass Transit, Hybrids, Bicycles, and Bio-Diesel; but, that's a tactic we'll have to leave to the politicians. Here are the facts. Upstream Online is reporting, today, that "World oil demand was weaker than expected in the first half of 2006 as a result of increasingly efficient use of oil limited consumption, oil producers' group OPEC said in a report...US gasoline demand “grew by only 0.7%, well below the annual average of 1.6% despite the stabilization of gasoline prices"..".Meanwhile, “developing countries, which account for 92% of world oil demand growth, are expected to see incremental demand of 0.6 million bpd for the year,...” " TreeHugger translation: we in the US drove our SUVs and trucks less; and, we stayed close to home when we did drive. OPEC is no doubt hoping that developing nations will keep sucking it up. A conspiratorial framing would have OPEC reps lining up at Washington DC's 'K-Street' to see if they can help overcome the California Effect. Or, buying up SUV inventories to keep the dying Detroit business models afloat. Or, wailing about a "Plan B" for Kyoto mistreating the world's poor. That old and discredited line of thought maintains that only economic growth in developing economies can 'float every ones boat'; and, oil consumption is the 'engine for growth'. Need proof of the speciousness of that reasoning? Japanese and European economies are already far less 'oil intensive' than are the North American ones. Japanese cars are in the market share passing lane, blowing by the Detroit muddlers. Photo credit: Upstreamonline.com
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A few years ago, I had the honor of attending a briefing at the US Army War College about environmental security and energy. In attendance were several General officers from nations who's economies depend on the sale of petrolium. The breifing, run by a Clinton era DOE rep, gave a cheery view of increased oil dependancy well into the future. At the end I asked the briefer what he though about the impact of Americas youth being raised in an era of education about the environment, sustainablity, conservation, and energy independance and how he thought this would effect the future of petrolium sales in the US. He attempted to blow me off by asking what I had seen parked in the college parking lot, he assumed that college kids were still buying oversized engined cars and SUVs. I told him that at the college, or rather academy, that I attended, the parking lot had a few of those, but for the most part, the student body had purchased small cars with better than average fuel efficiency. This made him and the OPEC generals more than a little bit nervous. I was happy to give them a glimpse of the future. I am very glad to see that my hopes for the future are starting to come to fruition. I sincerely hope that we can put OPEC out of business.
One step closer to the fall of the House of Saud.
Today, I was so close to buying a 150cc scooter that all I had to do was request a test ride as a condition of buying the vehicle outright. Now what does this have to do the above article? I wanted to get something that was fuel-efficent and I didn't have to spend much upkeep on. In a sense, I didn't want to get yet another "lousy gas-guzzler" with the little money I have. If I could, I wish I could get an electric or hybrid version of a car or scooter so I can "break" my addiction to foreign oil. If everyone thought like me, if you, me or the next guy can be encouraged to use more fuel-efficient or alternative versions and modes of transportation and transit then OPEC will have plenty more sleepless nights.
I'm a bit concerned that oil is becoming a single-issue cause. We all want to wean ourselves off oil, but many people seem to think that once this has been solved, we can continue to consume and throwaway goods as we currently do. We can't. We cannot continue with our rampant, throwaway consumer culture, which frankly shows absolutely no sign of abating. This is a problem that still needs to be resolved even if we find cleaner, less polluting alternatives to oil.
While it's good to see momentum growing over the environmental cost of using oil, there's precious little debate about changing our habits of consumption.