The Crisis of American Oil Dependency

Even with a barrel of oil back down to $60, $1 billion leaves our country every day to buy oil from producing nations, everyday, 365 days a year. That's $1 BILLION PER DAY; over $365 billion a year out of America. When oil returns to $150 a barrel, we will be shelling out $1 trillion a year out of America, to foreign oil countries. We can't afford that!

First, the facts on energy.

Today America consumes 21 million barrels of oil a day, roughly 25% of the world's consumption, even though we represent less than 5% of the world's population. 70% of the oil consumption goes to transportation, with 48% attributed to cars and pick-up trucks, 16% to heavy trucks, and 6% to airlines. The average American drives 12,500 miles and burns 500 gallons of gas a year. Because we only produce 6 million barrels a day, we must import 15 million, with 50% of the imports coming from the Middle East.

The 1974 oil crisis caused us to implement energy efficiency measures, with the average mpg doubling from 14 mpg to almost 28 mpg between 1975 and 1990. By 1990, with a daily consumption of 18 million barrels, and abundant cheap oil, we lost our focus and allowed our fuel efficiency to decline, to a low of 26 mpg by 2008. Had we maintained the same rate of improvement, today our cars would average 55 mpg; we would not need to import oil and may even have a surplus.

From 1990 to 2008, the price of a barrel of oil increased almost 15 times, from $10 to $145. And since 2000, while the demand for oil doubled, and supply kept up with demand, the price of oil managed to go from $20 to $145 a barrel, a 7-fold increase!

In 1970, we produced enough energy to meet our own needs. How can we become self sufficient again? Here is a five step process.

1. American driver reduces consumption by 35% through behavioral changes:

• Car pool to work one week a month and eliminate 25% of commuter miles.
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• Work from home one day a week and eliminate 20% of commuter miles.
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• Car pool to take kids to and from school one week a month reducing 25% of mom's taxi miles.
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• Aggregate errands in one trip instead of multiple and reduce by 25%
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• Slow down to 55 mph and increase mileage by 15%.
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• Inflate tires to proper pressure and increase mileage by 5%.
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• Ride bicycle on weekends.
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• Walk to lunch.

Savings: 2.5 million barrels a day, 12% of overall consumption, 3 years to implement.

2. American driver reduces consumption another 35% by buying fuel efficient vehicles.

• Replace old vehicle with plug-in, hybrid, or high mileage car.
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• Aptera, unlimited mpg on the first 60 miles, 130 miles per gallon in hybrid mode, http://www.aptera.com.
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• San Francisco-based Tesla Motors, unlimited mpg, 244 miles range, shipping now, http://www.teslamotors.com.
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• Southern California-based Fisker, plugin, first 50 miles on electricity with fuel efficient motor kicking in for additional range, $80,000, available late 2009, http://www.fiskerautomotive.com.
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• Phoenix SUV, unlimited miles per gallon, 120 miles range, http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com.
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• Honda Civic Hybrid, 45 mpg, http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-hybrid.
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• Toyota Prius, 45 mpg, http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid.
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• Smart, 45 mpg, http://www.smartusa.com.
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• A new natural gas Honda, http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-gx.
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• And check out the Mercedes F700, a 50 mpg concept car for the replacement of its S class.

Savings: 2.5 million barrels a day, 12% of overall consumption, 4 years to implement.

3. Obsolescence on the 30% "other".

This can be done through a systematic attack of anything that uses fossil fuels such as mowers and other devices, and natural replacement with battery, electricity and natural gas powered mechanisms. Reduction of 1,000 pounds of annual waste produced by the average American down to 700 pounds. Elimination of plastic bottle water and plastic containers.

Savings: 2 million barrels a day, 10% of overall consumption, 5 years to implement.

4. New truck efficiencies.

This can be achieved through extension of new technologies including hybrid, solar, and phasing out inefficient trucks.

Savings: 1 million barrels a day, 5% of overall consumption, 7 years to implement.

5. State and local governments embrace new public transportation initiatives.

Europe, Japan, and China have long enjoyed the convenience and comfort of bullet trains. They leave on time and arrive on time. They transport passengers comfortably from the center of town to their destinations, eliminating the necessity to drive to an airport far-away from the center of things. They are unaffected by weather and do not experience turbulence. Security checks are a breeze, everyone boards at the same time, no need to be there more than 15 minutes an advance. They eliminate the humiliating hassles and waste of time associated with air travel. They do not use gas, only electricity. No carbon monoxide, no pollution, hassle-free travel.

Americans have been deprived of this luxury which has changed the lives of many travelers in the rest of the world. That is until now, as California has taken the lead and passed a state initiative to connect all its major cities with a brand new high speed train network by 2030. With speeds exceeding 200 miles an hour, these trains will connect downtown Los Angeles to San Francisco in 2 and ½ hours and may start rolling as soon as 6 years from now.

Savings: 2.2 million barrels a day, 11% of overall consumption, 10 years to implement.

Over the next several years, these combined initiatives gradually reduce our oil consumption by 50%. America, are we ready to go green?