TAPPED OUT
Hey, greenies: It isn’t what comes out of the tailpipe; it’s what goes into the gas tank
BY KEN WARD

Ken Ward is opinion page editor of the Press Journal in Vero Beach, Fla. A Las Vegas resident from 1990-2002, he was a freelance columnist with the R-J and assistant managing editor at the Sun. E-mail him at kenricward@juno.com  Other stories by Ken Ward

From coast to coast, politicians are jumping on the green bandwagon. This summer, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger met in Miami for a glitzy eco-conference, basking in the glow of warm media coverage.

And, really, who can argue with the current talk of cutting auto emissions and reducing carbon footprints?

But while elected officials tinker around politically correct margins — measuring hydrocarbon outputs, buying fluorescent bulbs and jetting off to intercontinental rock concerts — they miss the bigger picture. It isn’t what comes out of the tailpipes; it’s what goes into the gas tank.

As Charlie and Arnold primped for the cameras, pump prices kept marching upward and the International Energy Agency warned that the world faces an oil supply “crunch” within five years. That’s a Texas-sized understatement.

A 2006 documentary, Crude Awakening, argues that world petroleum production is at or near its peak. Though scientists spar over exact dates, oil reserves clearly cannot sustain current consumption levels — at any price.

According to the “Peak Oil” formula, we face an irreversibly, if not precipitously, diminishing supply of this non-renewable resource, which is found in significant quantities in only a few places on the globe. The Earth’s last major oil discovery was 30 years ago.

As billions in China, India and the Third World strive to become more like us, they join an ever-lengthening gas queue, driving costs relentlessly higher. We all should be painfully aware of how the militarization of petro-chemical markets fuels perpetual war.

In a spasm of clarity, oilman George W. Bush acknowledged this nation’s “addiction” to oil. But beyond lip service, our politicians are tapped out. Why? There’s no percentage in being proactive on energy because the powers that be — the oil companies, the automakers, “the market” — are too heavily vested in the status quo to promote meaningful change.

Indeed, the entire global economy is predicated on unending reserves of oil. If the truth were told about supply, demand and skyrocketing costs of extraction, virtually every company would be drastically devalued. The Great Depression was a cash bubble. A collapsing oil market is, fundamentally, much more dangerous.

“Radical” thinking these days calls for hybridizing the world’s automotive fleet. But scientists calculate that would buy, at best, seven years’ time. By then, our oil-thirsty planet would be back consuming more oil than we do today.

Similarly, alternate fuel sources — from wind to biomass to nuclear — could help flatten the demand curve for oil and natural gas. More exotically, hydrogen and even seawater are envisioned as boundless energy sources of the future. But, at the current pace of development, nothing comes close to replacing fossil fuels.

Still, there are some promising developments. New solar thermal ventures in Nevada could be the start of something big – particularly if Uncle Sam lets loose of some of his vast desert holdings.

According to one estimate, solar collectors covering a landmass half the size of the Silver State could put the United States back in the black, energy-wise. So what’s the holdup, Washington? What else are we going to put out there? Meth labs? Polygamy compounds? More casinos?

Without fresh political and economic vision, the old oil machine will simply keep pumping until the wells go dry. And the longer politicians remain in denial, the more costly and wrenching the inevitable changes will be.

In one of its starkest scenes, “Crude Awakening” contrasts today’s world of 7 billion people with a post-oil planet of, maybe, 2 billion inhabitants. Because everything from agriculture to air travel is hooked on petrochemicals, the globe’s carrying capacity will shrink right along with diminishing/costly oil supplies.

As our democratic “leaders” keep kicking the can down the road, this atrophied worldview looks more and more plausible. Then no one will be worrying about auto emissions.