A Tale of Two Speakers – Peak Oil and The API

This week on Wednesday and Thursday night I had the opportunity to hear from opposite sides of the aisle regarding the state of the oil and gas industry and our energy future. Wednesday night I listened to a speaker on Peak Oil, while Thursday I heard the president of the American Petroleum Institute (API) speak. I found both speakers interesting, but lacking, because both failed to present a broader view than their particular area of interest.

So, are we running out of oil or not? Is that the question we should even be asking? The key message that keeps running through my mind is the saying from the Clinton campaign of the ‘90’s – “It’s the economy, stupid”. What both speakers harped on (from different perspectives) was the critical role that energy plays in driving the economy. Everyone knows that China, India, and the rest of the developing world’s economies are growing rapidly, and that means they require more energy. However, here’s where I have a problem with the message that is being given by both these camps. Their message is essentially – “More carbon = more energy = more economic growth”. However, we know that is essentially incorrect, because renewable sources of energy don’t fit this equation. Also, generating energy from hydrocarbons more efficiently doesn’t fit the equation either.

Let’s rewrite the equation as “More available energy = more economic growth”. We can make more energy available to everyone by using it more efficiently. Furthermore, wind power is cost effective today – we should be putting up wind turbines as fast as we can in the United States if we really care about the strength of our economy. Rather than focus on the need to secure energy resources abroad, we should be building our domestic energy supply.

Interest groups that are against carbon limits or are clamoring for securing petroleum for domestic consumption on the basis that to do otherwise would imperil our economy are misleading the American public. It is vital that people understand that changing our energy policy can improve our lives, not ruin it, as so many would have us believe.