On Wednesday 08 February 2006 10:13, Jed Rothwell wrote: > The URL is difficult to enter, and the article is short and mainly > quotes, so I will take the liberty of uploading it. As Chris Zell > says, it is sadly defeatist. > > - Jed > > > Exxon: America will always rely on foreign oil > Tue Feb 7, 2006 2:19 PM ET > > HOUSTON (Reuters) - The United States will always rely on foreign > imports of oil to feed its energy needs and should stop trying to > become energy independent, a top Exxon Mobil Corp. executive said on > Tuesday. > > "Realistically, it is simply not feasible in any time period relevant > to our discussion today," Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President Stuart > McGill said, referring to what he called the "misperception" that the > United States can achieve energy independence. > > The comments, in a speech at an energy conference in Houston, come a > few days after U.S. President George W. Bush declared America was > addicted to Middle Eastern oil and promised to help the country kick the > habit. > > Many in the United States believe America should wean itself off oil > imports from the Middle East, fearing it makes the country > dangerously dependent on an unstable region. > > The world's largest publicly traded oil company, however, says hoping > to end foreign oil imports is not only a bad idea, but also impossible. > > "Americans depend upon imports to fill the gap," McGill said. "No > combination of conservation measures, alternative energy sources and > technological advances could realistically and economically provide a > way to completely replace those imports in the short or medium term." > > Instead of trying to achieve energy independence, importing nations > like the U.S. should be promoting energy interdependence, McGill said. > > "Because we are all contributing to and drawing from the same pool of > oil, all nations -- exporting and importing -- are inextricably bound > to one another in the energy marketplace," he said.
The above big oil executive is only thinking of his industry and the best way to further it, and not at all about the best interests of this country. It is well to look at the natural intentions of individuals like that when they speak to where we should go as a nation. This chap does not want us to even try to become independant. If we did, what on earth would we need him for? The way to become independant is to run a crash program for nuclear power using the fast breeder cycle for reprocessing, and small reactors in local areas for general power. We should shy away from the giant technology challenging types that are difficult to build and prone to failures like Rancho Seco in California. Rancho Seco was a technology challenging project because it used so called the 'plastic design' philosophy when designing the main turbines. As a result, the project suffered continual failures of the turbine blades. The reactor was just fine. It was the other parts that gave problems simply because some program managers wanted to make a name for themselves at public expense. The project would be cumulative, as each unit of the project would subtract so much from our dependance, and as long as the rate of build was greater than the rate of increase of our energy needs, the incremental benefits of reduced dependance on international nutjobs would work continually in our favor to improve our standard of living. Let that Exxon Mobil executive be exiled another country like Saudi Arabia or Iran or Iraq. He obviousely does'nt care about Americans except how much money he can blackmail out of us. Of course he encourages defeatism, would'nt YOU if you were a fantastically rich blackmailer of nations? Standing Bear
