Whenever I hear someone like Jamaal Bowman make such an asinine statement as "We must stop drilling for oil completely," I immediately ask what's his background? I usually hope he worked in engineering in the energy sector or maybe in power plants or maybe manufacturing. Of course, these days, when I hear something so dumb come out of the mouth of a Representative in Congress, I know it's a sure bet that that fool is talking about something that he or she knows absolutely knowing about.
According to Wikipedia, "Bowman briefly attended Potomac State Junior College before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management from the University of New Haven in 1999. He played college football for the New Haven Chargers. Bowman later earned a Master of Arts in Counseling from Mercy College and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Manhattanville College.
He is a member of the Lower Hudson Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Bowman was inspired to run by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez."
While that should tell you everything that you need to know about this guy, his stance on oil and gas, the whole idea that "We must stop drilling for oil 'completely' shows how utterly stupid he is when it comes to the role of oil and gas in our society.
The New York Democrat Congressman Jamaal Bowman said the United States must "stop drilling for fossil fuels completely" or Americans will continue to suffer from "severe weather events."
"Number one, we need to stop drilling for fossil fuels completely," Bowman said. "But number two, we need an expedited way to get us to clean, renewable energy, or we will continue to have these severe weather events that we have been having for quite some time because of the warming of the planet."
Bowman's call to end oil and gas drilling in the United States comes as Americans recover from sky-high gas prices under Biden. The national average price for a gallon of gas last summer exceeded $5 for the first time ever. Here in California, we were paying more than $6 a gallon in some places. Some places were more than that. And now, forecasters are saying the average could again go to those same levels this summer.
According to Wikipedia, "Bowman briefly attended Potomac State Junior College before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management from the University of New Haven in 1999. He played college football for the New Haven Chargers. Bowman later earned a Master of Arts in Counseling from Mercy College and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Manhattanville College.
He is a member of the Lower Hudson Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Bowman was inspired to run by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez."
While that should tell you everything that you need to know about this guy, his stance on oil and gas, the whole idea that "We must stop drilling for oil 'completely' shows how utterly stupid he is when it comes to the role of oil and gas in our society.
The New York Democrat Congressman Jamaal Bowman said the United States must "stop drilling for fossil fuels completely" or Americans will continue to suffer from "severe weather events."
"Number one, we need to stop drilling for fossil fuels completely," Bowman said. "But number two, we need an expedited way to get us to clean, renewable energy, or we will continue to have these severe weather events that we have been having for quite some time because of the warming of the planet."
Bowman's call to end oil and gas drilling in the United States comes as Americans recover from sky-high gas prices under Biden. The national average price for a gallon of gas last summer exceeded $5 for the first time ever. Here in California, we were paying more than $6 a gallon in some places. Some places were more than that. And now, forecasters are saying the average could again go to those same levels this summer.
Biden's 2020 campaign was geared to cater to the crazies on the Left who want to end drilling for oil. Biden has shown the world that he is against American oil and gas production. He promised to "end fossil fuel" and allow "no more drilling." He then canceled the Keystone XL pipeline and put in place a moratorium on new gas leases within days of his taking office.
Biden has also targeted the oil and gas industry through heavy-handed regulations. Earlier this month, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled new standards that force coal and gas power plants to slash their carbon emissions a whopping 90 percent between 2035 and 2040. The rule is expected to force many of those plants to shut down rather than spend millions of dollars to comply.
Biden has also targeted the oil and gas industry through heavy-handed regulations. Earlier this month, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled new standards that force coal and gas power plants to slash their carbon emissions a whopping 90 percent between 2035 and 2040. The rule is expected to force many of those plants to shut down rather than spend millions of dollars to comply.
Please understand, Democrats are all for shutting down power plants while at the same time pushing Americans to use more electricity. How is that possible? Pixie dust! Democrats think electricity comes from pixie dust that falls from the sky. And they believe pixie dust should be free.
It doesn't matter if reductions in fossil-fuel power plants and oil and gas drilling would cripple America's energy and murder our economy. They have no idea and they really don't care to learn that about 80 percent of America's energy comes from fossil fuels. They think pixie dust will power their electric vehicles, electric stoves, and the electricity they use to power their cell phones. They probably think so because they have degrees in Sports Management, Counseling, Educational Leadership, Communism, and Gender Studies.
Wind and solar alternatives come with a lot of negative issues, including reliability, storage, maintenance, and project size and scope. Wind and solar are unreliable, can't be stored, the cost to maintain is astronomical, and the size and scope of what is needed to merely contribute to our needs is bigger than anyone expects. Of course, there is also the problem of mining for the minerals to create the batteries and the problem with the inability to recycle the waste used in both the wind and solar industries.
There is something else that Democrats either don't realize or simply don't care about.
As I said in a post in March of 2012, oil is more than just fuel. Even if we miraculously found some way of making planes fly without fuel, we would still need oil. Even if we found a way to power every car, truck, train, boat, tractor, and piece of heavy equipment with gasoline and diesel fuels, we would still need oil. Even if we eliminated the use of oil to produce heat and create light for our homes, schools, and businesses, we would still need oil. Even if we found a way to replace oil entirely for our energy needs, we would still need oil. This fact of life has to do with our need to manufacture petroleum-based products.
If we eliminated oil for all of our energy needs, we would still need 47% of every barrel of oil coming out of the ground to manufacture the thousands of oil-based products that we use every day. And, since some of you have asked if I could reprint that information, here it is.
Just as important as our fuel needs, are our manufacturing needs - Over 6,000 products we use on a daily basis are manufactured from oil. Of every barrel of oil produced, 51% of a barrel of oil goes to something other than fuels. Out of one 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline. The rest, over half, is used to make things like:
Friends, the list above is only about 150 of the approximately 6000 items made from oil that we use every day. The list above is only a partial list of products made from petroleum. As we can see, it's not only about gasoline and cars.
And ask yourself this, if 49% of all the oil we use is for fuel and the other 51% is for manufacturing products - how much oil would we still need if somehow every Democrat in America could wave their magic wand and eliminate the need for oil for our energy needs?
Currently, the United States consumes 19.6 million barrels per day. So even if every truck, car, big rig, train, jet plane, power plant, and home had an alternative fuel source to go to - we would still need at least 50% (or half) of the amount of the oil we are using today for our manufacturing needs.
Even if we never needed oil as an energy fuel source again, we would still consume over 10 million barrels a day just for our manufacturing processes. That means, oil as a base product is almost indispensable for us or others. If we want to continue making the products that we use on a daily basis, then we need to recognize the importance, the absolute need, of oil.
When Biden and Congressional Democrats talk about not drilling for oil because they want us to use other "energy" sources, they completely ignore the manufacturing aspects of oil. And really, just how many manufacturing jobs are Democrats talking about putting at stake by not drilling right now?
Oil Is More Than Just Gasoline
Just as important as our fuel needs, are our manufacturing needs - Over 6,000 products we use on a daily basis are manufactured from oil. Of every barrel of oil produced, 51% of a barrel of oil goes to something other than fuels. Out of one 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline. The rest, over half, is used to make things like:
Friends, the list above is only about 150 of the approximately 6000 items made from oil that we use every day. The list above is only a partial list of products made from petroleum. As we can see, it's not only about gasoline and cars.
And ask yourself this, if 49% of all the oil we use is for fuel and the other 51% is for manufacturing products - how much oil would we still need if somehow every Democrat in America could wave their magic wand and eliminate the need for oil for our energy needs?
Currently, the United States consumes 19.6 million barrels per day. So even if every truck, car, big rig, train, jet plane, power plant, and home had an alternative fuel source to go to - we would still need at least 50% (or half) of the amount of the oil we are using today for our manufacturing needs.
Even if we never needed oil as an energy fuel source again, we would still consume over 10 million barrels a day just for our manufacturing processes. That means, oil as a base product is almost indispensable for us or others. If we want to continue making the products that we use on a daily basis, then we need to recognize the importance, the absolute need, of oil.
When Biden and Congressional Democrats talk about not drilling for oil because they want us to use other "energy" sources, they completely ignore the manufacturing aspects of oil. And really, just how many manufacturing jobs are Democrats talking about putting at stake by not drilling right now?
How expensive will these oil-based products become if they can't be made easily or at all right here? How many companies are going to have to relocate their manufacturing facilities overseas to a country that is not playing into the Climate Change hoax? How many companies will want to take their manufacturing jobs somewhere else because oil is not readily available in the United States and may also be cheaper in other countries than it is here?
China and India don't care about Climate Change and are taking over as manufacturing giants while Democrats here are limiting what Americans can manufacture. Why won't Democrats stop attacking American businesses with regulations and senseless notions such as eliminating oil completely? Where do they think American workers will work when Democrats put manufacturing businesses out of business?
Ask yourself, how many Americans are going to suffer because of the arrogance and ignorance of fools like Biden and Democrats in Congress? Facts are facts, there are reasons to drill for oil that have nothing to do with cars and transportation -- and everything to do with manufacturing and the industrial might of the American economy.
A reader sent me the following information, she wrote, "If you think the Green New Deal is environmentally friendly, think again. Currently, the fossil fuel industry only uses about 1% of our landmass. If we do go to only using "green" energy, it will take at least 20% of our landmass to produce the minimum needs.
Wind turbine blades have to be replaced over time. Did you know that they’re not recyclable? Off to the landfill, they go! Keep in mind their size. Also, wind turbines kill over 300,000 birds each year.
Solar panels crack and break and when they do, it’s too difficult and too expensive to recycle the materials found in the panels. So, like the blades, they are thrown into landfills. Solar panel fields have to be cleared, destroying large acreages of the environment. Solar panels must be cleaned in order for them to effectively collect sunlight. This means millions of gallons of water must be used.
Wind turbines and solar panels aren’t made from flowers. No, they are made from materials that must be mined, even from petroleum products. The mining process for rare earth materials is incredibly destructive to the environment in which they are collected. And because much of the materials are found in 3rd World Countries, the mining is not done in a safe manner for the land or the people.
Is it logical to think we can power our country’s industry, transportation, and homes with such inefficient energy sources? Is the fossil fuel industry perfect? No, but it has made remarkable strides and is the most efficient use. Let’s continue to strive to make cleaner and more efficient sources of energy -- but in good time without causing great disruption and even destruction of our economy and our lives. As there can be and should be a marrying of the two thoughts."
This brings me to what Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Mark Christie said during a May Senate hearing, "I'm afraid to say it, but I think the United States is heading towards a catastrophic situation. The problem is not the addition of wind and solar, it's the subtraction of dispatchable resources like coal and gas."
Frankly, experts on the subject agree that we cannot and should not stop drilling for American oil. I wish Democrats were smart enough to know that they need to educate themselves -- and give a damn instead of simply wanting to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Tom Correa
