Ah the sordid topic of oil...

Here's a interesting fact few people know. At the end of the 19th century as we moved into the 20th century when the automobile revolution was in its infancy the primary fuel being used was alcohol, ethanol, bio diesel and electricity. Yes, the first cars running on down the road were powered by what we now affectionately call alternative fuels.

Then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Big Oil was born. The bottom line here is that we will need oil for some time to come, the question is how much? Oil has been the energy staple in this country for over 100 years. It has done its job very well but with a small exception is rapidly becoming obsolete, at least as our main energy fuel source. 

We have drilled and drilled and drilled. We have pumped and pumped and pumped. Now we buy, buy, buy. Unfortunately we buy some from people that don't like us and after the last 8 years that list has grown exponentially. I mention this because our dependence on foreign oil is by far the greatest risk to our national security. Anyone that thumbs their nose at that is simply ignorant. We are currently fighting and dying for oil, you might not agree with that but its true. Can you imagine where this country would be today if we took half the money spent in Iraq over the last 5 years and invested it in green alternative energy? Its frightening. Well, we cant change the past, so lets work with the present and future.

There are two other alarming sides to this story, oil shale and oil sands. 

Oil Shale

The term oil shale generally refers to any sedimentary rock that contains solid bituminous materials (called kerogen) that are released as petroleum-like liquids when the rock is heated in the chemical process of pyrolysis. Oil shale was formed millions of years ago by deposition of silt and organic debris on lake beds and sea bottoms. Over long periods of time, heat and pressure transformed the materials into oil shale in a process similar to the process that forms oil; however, the heat and pressure were not as great. Oil shale generally contains enough oil that it will burn without any additional processing, and it is known as "the rock that burns".

Oil shale can be mined in two ways. Surface or open pit mining ( strip mining ), or underground mining. Once mined the oil must be separated from the shale using a chemical process and enormous amounts of water. The shale then must be disposed of. Like coal, the process of mining and separating shale oil is extremely damaging to the environment.

While oil shale is found in many places worldwide, by far the largest deposits in the world are found in the United States in the Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Oil sands are mined and processed in very much the same way as shale oil. The environmental impact is unacceptable and unnecessary. No matter what you call it or how you slice it, strip mining, aka surface mining, aka open pit mining, aka mountain top removal mining is by far the most environmentally damaging process known to man. The images below show just the visual impact of strip mining

From this	to this

Alternatives, alternatives, alternatives...

In 1961 President John F. Kennedy challenged this country to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, we did. We did this when computers were the size of a room and had less computing ability then a hand held calculator does today, you know, the one that sells for $3.99. We have today, right now the technology to grow our fuels, for vehicles to get in access of 100 mpg. For vehicles to run on electricity, hydrogen and compressed air. If in the sixties with the tools that were available then we could put a man on the moon in less then 9 years then with the tools available to us right now why are we even talking about drilling for more oil? Why are we where we are? It is incomprehensible to me that we have allowed ourselves to be locked in to this dependence, that we have stood by and allowed our government to be bought and paid for by Big Energy without any consideration other then for profits. This is why we are where we are. Lets not allow that to continue. 

Switch Grass Field A Biorefinery, not the best looking thing but at least it is putting out renewable clean green energy

We must demand an aggressive movement away from fossil fuels to green alternatives, E-85, hydrogen, electric technologies right now. If we build a new refinery, it needs to be a biorefinery. We need to plant switch grasses, not drill. We need to move our fuel economy standards way up and demand that the automobile manufacturers operate to their highest level of abilities technologically not just what they are comfortable with. "Build it and he will come"

We can grow our fuel and not endanger our food supply.

We can move our refineries off of the shorelines into the interior of the country.

We can drive comfortable cars with all the things we have grown so attached to and get 100+ MPG or not use liquid fuel at all.

We can tell OPEC and Uncle Hugo Chavez to keep their oil, we don't need it.

We can greatly reduce our carbon footprint and reduce emissions considerably. Can you imagine what a day in Los Angeles would look like without smog?

We would no longer ever have to consider the possibility of going to war in the name of oil or whatever the politicians are calling it that week.

We can do all this right now, Its not a question of our abilities, it is simply a question of our will.

Who can argue with that in a logical and reasonable fashion?

Yes, oil has had its day in the sun, now its time to move over, there are new kids in town.