It is no secret that oil exploration in ANWAR is going to happen. The no energy at any cost crowd has been beside itself since the Senate vote. They will of course do everything they can to try to stop it. Just as they do everything they can to try to stop every form of energy generation invented by man.

In the state of California, Governor Schwartzenegger is working to build the first distribution network to supply hydrogen to fuel cell powered cars. I am sure the environmentalists will find something to complain about. It is certain that the liberals, and they have a bunch of them in California, will panic over the loss of gas tax revenue.

But aside from invoking the ire of the environmentalist movement these things have something else in common. They are both pointing in the direction of energy independence. Energy independence points to independence from Middle East imports. Without the leverage of our dependence on their oil, our friends the Saudis are probably less likely to want to fund terrorists who want to blow us up.

But ANWAR and little hydrogen in California aren't enough to accomplish this. We need more. We need to start building more nuclear power plants. And if you think the environmentalists went into fits over a little exploratory drilling in small corner of a vast frozen wasteland in the middle of nowhere in Alaska just wait until they dig into the back of the van and pull out the No Nukes signs.

The will try to throw a roadblock in front of any plan to develop and exploit any source of energy.

I used the term “road block” because the recent efforts of the federal government to spur development of shale oil has the unfortunately trendy bureaucratic title of America's Oil Shale A Roadmap for Federal Decision Making. I think we need to work really hard to find a new term for government plans other than roadmap. I'm getting tired of roadmaps. We need some out of the box ideation to come up with a new lexicon and put it all on the same page.

Bureauctratese aside the focus being given to oil shale development gives reason for some hope. According to the introduction

America’s 2 trillion barrel oil shale resource is recognized as having the same production potential as Canada’s tar sands. Tar sand production, initiated in the 1960s, has increased steadily to more than 1 million per barrels/day and is moving toward a near-term goal of 2.5 million barrels per day by 2017. This amount of oil is equivalent to the volume of oil currently imported by the United States from Middle East countries. Tar sands production has enabled Canada to add 174 billion barrels to its recoverable oil reserves, making Canada’s proved reserves second only to those of Saudi Arabia.

The President and the Department of Energy have determined that increasing liquid fuels supply from domestic sources is an important national objective. America’s rich and concentrated oil shale resources, containing as much as 2 trillion barrels of potential oil supply could make a major contribution toward that objective. A domestic oil shale industry would reduce import dependence and associated costs to the U.S. economy while creating thousands of stable, high paying jobs and stimulating economic activity here at home.

The technology to develop shale oil as a viable resource exists. It is more expensive than traditional oil drilling and thus has not been seen as economical. Recent increases in crude oil prices resulting more from politics than physical reality have made shale oil more of an option.

The are a few words the princes of Saudi Arabia fear more than Democracy and election. Nuclear power, hydrogen fuel cell cars, ANWAR and shale oil. It is time we start shouting them loud and clear. It is time we put them on notice that their days of having us over a barrel are coming to an end.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 06:25 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment