Reading instead of listening to the President
Well, I read online what was supposed to be the text of the President's speech. I really didn't want to listen to our President. My tolerance for America's stupidity only can go so far at times. Was the speech any better than I expected? Actually, yes, from what I read, it was. I was expected something worse, but as long as the President stayed “on prompter” (as a teleprompter-in-chief as he's been jokingly called) then if what I read was really his speech for tonight then it should not been so bad as I feared it would be. Then again, maybe what was printed by The New York Times online was just an earlier and friendlier version. It still did setup a lot of the stuff I was afraid of having to listen to. Here are couple things that struck me more than others.
“... oil is a finite resource.” I can agree with that. “We consume more than 20 percent of the world's oil, but have less than 2 percent of the world's oil reserves.” I laugh at this part. If we only count what we allow to be drilled, this might be right. However, we have vast tracts of land that is federally protected and no drilling is allowed. In other words, there is oil reserves that aren't even part of our economic equation. “And that's part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean -- because we're running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.” Ha ha ha. The President is a comedian. They are drilling so far off shore because it costs too much to drill in shallower water or land. Not because there isn't any oil in closer. But, we are sheep to be led by our stupidity so the American people will buy that without doing their homework. Take for example, I live in Utah. I have a cousin that works in Wyoming maintaining oil caps because although they were prepared for oil, we don't actually use these potential oil wells. Why? Because environmental activists make it so much trouble that it costs too much. So why was the drilling done and then capped? Well, we were going to legally make it easier to drill and then Obama was elected. Oil execs were evaluating the costs going into the election as I understand it and judged that it would be cheaper to cap and maintain those caps then to actually recover the oil. So, in other words, it is cheaper to pay someone to maintain a cap on a potential oil well far inland where we could have capped it a lot easier and to drill and pump up oil from something down so deep underwater that has introduced all sorts of new challenges that we struggle to contain the leak when things go wrong. Get it? Cheaper to pay someone to keep a well from producing so we can drill deep offshore.
“Countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America.” Again, I had to laugh. China is investing in clean energy jobs? There were all sorts of reasons why gas prices have gone up. One of them I read about back just a few years ago when gas was climbing up to two dollars a gallon here in Utah, and I was then working as an assistant manager at a gas station, guess what it was? China was industrializing. Got that? Industrializing. Let me put this in words you can understand. More cars. More trucks. More factories. More electricity. And what did this mean? China was buying more oil in the international market. More oil going to China. Less oil for America and other countries. To get the gas we were so addicted to, we had to pay more to compete with China paying more for what they needed for their industrial growth. So why should China invest in green technology? Two things. China is HUGE. They would only have to invest a small, small percentage to have a strong public image. China has a history of controlling the media, so they only need some smaller communities to showcase to the world and everyone will happily buy the propaganda. The politicians have to. Everyone is looking for China to fund their debt so they have to make China look good. Second, if the rest of the world is willing to pay more to go green, why shouldn't China make and sell the world the technology? They can do it cheaper with cheap labor. Thus, it builds China's influence in the world while they can use the cheaper oil, and since they produce the green tech then if it ever becomes cheaper to be green then how easy it should be to convert as the source and industry leader. If green is the new oil industry of the future, China gains control of the energy production of the world much like the middle east is considered to be in control of things now.
Here is a little thought for you to go with that. Some of the latest buzz words are a smart energy grid. How do you have a smart energy grid? Computer chips to control the flow of electricity. Now, not too long ago there were internet attacks against several American “targets” that were traced back to China. While the Chinese government claimed to not be behind the attacks, I then wonder why we want China to be building our smart grid electronics. Even if the Chinese government did not launch or sponsor the internet attacks, then someone else there must have had a connection to them. And, internet warfare is becoming a part of even our military strategy.... Imagine the Chinese waging war in the future, with everyone using their green technology. With a simple command over the internet, massive portions if not all of a nation's electrical grid goes offline. No airport lights, beacons, or whatever else planes might use to safely take off and land. No power for the air traffic control systems. Everyone running electric cars with no recharge if you plug them in because the electricity has been cut off. Your home is dark. No television, radio, or internet without power. They could invade and news might not even reach you before their tanks and military marched down the streets outside your door. We depend on electricity for so very much. It is to their advantage to control the electricity of the future. Even though they cannot stop the sun from shining, the wind from blowing, and water from flowing, infiltrating through the smart grid would given them control of our energy in a future war.
“... oil is a finite resource.” I can agree with that. “We consume more than 20 percent of the world's oil, but have less than 2 percent of the world's oil reserves.” I laugh at this part. If we only count what we allow to be drilled, this might be right. However, we have vast tracts of land that is federally protected and no drilling is allowed. In other words, there is oil reserves that aren't even part of our economic equation. “And that's part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean -- because we're running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.” Ha ha ha. The President is a comedian. They are drilling so far off shore because it costs too much to drill in shallower water or land. Not because there isn't any oil in closer. But, we are sheep to be led by our stupidity so the American people will buy that without doing their homework. Take for example, I live in Utah. I have a cousin that works in Wyoming maintaining oil caps because although they were prepared for oil, we don't actually use these potential oil wells. Why? Because environmental activists make it so much trouble that it costs too much. So why was the drilling done and then capped? Well, we were going to legally make it easier to drill and then Obama was elected. Oil execs were evaluating the costs going into the election as I understand it and judged that it would be cheaper to cap and maintain those caps then to actually recover the oil. So, in other words, it is cheaper to pay someone to maintain a cap on a potential oil well far inland where we could have capped it a lot easier and to drill and pump up oil from something down so deep underwater that has introduced all sorts of new challenges that we struggle to contain the leak when things go wrong. Get it? Cheaper to pay someone to keep a well from producing so we can drill deep offshore.
“Countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America.” Again, I had to laugh. China is investing in clean energy jobs? There were all sorts of reasons why gas prices have gone up. One of them I read about back just a few years ago when gas was climbing up to two dollars a gallon here in Utah, and I was then working as an assistant manager at a gas station, guess what it was? China was industrializing. Got that? Industrializing. Let me put this in words you can understand. More cars. More trucks. More factories. More electricity. And what did this mean? China was buying more oil in the international market. More oil going to China. Less oil for America and other countries. To get the gas we were so addicted to, we had to pay more to compete with China paying more for what they needed for their industrial growth. So why should China invest in green technology? Two things. China is HUGE. They would only have to invest a small, small percentage to have a strong public image. China has a history of controlling the media, so they only need some smaller communities to showcase to the world and everyone will happily buy the propaganda. The politicians have to. Everyone is looking for China to fund their debt so they have to make China look good. Second, if the rest of the world is willing to pay more to go green, why shouldn't China make and sell the world the technology? They can do it cheaper with cheap labor. Thus, it builds China's influence in the world while they can use the cheaper oil, and since they produce the green tech then if it ever becomes cheaper to be green then how easy it should be to convert as the source and industry leader. If green is the new oil industry of the future, China gains control of the energy production of the world much like the middle east is considered to be in control of things now.
Here is a little thought for you to go with that. Some of the latest buzz words are a smart energy grid. How do you have a smart energy grid? Computer chips to control the flow of electricity. Now, not too long ago there were internet attacks against several American “targets” that were traced back to China. While the Chinese government claimed to not be behind the attacks, I then wonder why we want China to be building our smart grid electronics. Even if the Chinese government did not launch or sponsor the internet attacks, then someone else there must have had a connection to them. And, internet warfare is becoming a part of even our military strategy.... Imagine the Chinese waging war in the future, with everyone using their green technology. With a simple command over the internet, massive portions if not all of a nation's electrical grid goes offline. No airport lights, beacons, or whatever else planes might use to safely take off and land. No power for the air traffic control systems. Everyone running electric cars with no recharge if you plug them in because the electricity has been cut off. Your home is dark. No television, radio, or internet without power. They could invade and news might not even reach you before their tanks and military marched down the streets outside your door. We depend on electricity for so very much. It is to their advantage to control the electricity of the future. Even though they cannot stop the sun from shining, the wind from blowing, and water from flowing, infiltrating through the smart grid would given them control of our energy in a future war.