On Oil and the Environment

Inhabitants of any place or the owner of any thing sorta has the implicit responsibility for keeping it in decent working order. Not only because it’s the ‘right’ thing to do but also for the selfish reason of ensuring it remains serviceable for the inhabitant or owner. We all enjoy or languish in the same environment and no one benefits from climatic disruptions that bring on natural disasters, but, regretfully, there is not universal agreement on the extent of man’s responsibility for the problem nor consensus agreement on remedial and preventative actions. Nonetheless, the absence of certainly should not dissuade us from taking some concerted action. To me the cost incurred to minimize potentially harmful emissions is like an insurance premium for which we are prepared to shell out, “just in case.”

For many the major culprits for our deteriorating environment are the bad old oil companies that foist onto us products that release those nasty carbon dioxide emissions that lead to global warming. I wonder how those cavalier companies have been able to get away with that for so long? Could it be that there is a demand, by us, for those terrible hydrocarbons? In 2018 there were nearly 275 million registered vehicles in the U.S. of which only about one million were electric. The number of electric vehicles in America is projected to increase to only 18 million by 2030. This says nothing about the 1.4 billion cars worldwide. There are around 26,000 commercial aircraft in the world today and over 50,000 military aircraft. No one has yet figured out how fly them on alternative energy. There are countless hydrocarbon power plants heating our homes and businesses. As of 2019 renewables accounted for only 11.4 % of our power generation. Bottom line: If there is a culprit here, it is us the consumers, the demand side of the equation, not the supplier who is simply trying to profitably meet the needs of its customers. 

Maybe many of these companies have not done enough, and they must do more, to encourage conservation and to ensure their own operations are squeaky clean. Certainly, those things need to be addressed. There are also lingering questions about the broader consequences of alternative energy generation that have not been adequately or reliably explained.

The point is – we will need hydrocarbons in our lives for yet a very long time. In the meantime, the best we can do is to reduce the demand side, as much as we can, and to improve the supply side, minimizing emissions, and gaining economical access to the best raw materials available. 

Canceling the Keystone pipeline was a short-term feel-good gesture for many but has very negative long run consequences. Aside from foregoing its favorable economic impact, thousands will lose their jobs and thousands of support businesses will suffer.  Not a good trade off.

• – – – Just the view of a common man