The Simple Arithmetic of John McCain's Bogus Claims of Energy Independence
David Fiderer
Huffington Post
"My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East" John McCain, May 2, 2008
Put aside, for the moment, McCain's suggestion that we invaded Iraq in 2003 because of oil. His energy policy "that we will be talking about" is nothing more than hot air. When he said it "will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East" I could tell the he was in way over his head. Here's a very simple primer on the global economics of oil, to demonstrate why McCain is, once again, way off base.
1. The U.S. imports 2/3 of the oil it consumes. That fraction will not dramatically change any time soon.
The United States has been a net importer of oil since the 1960s. In 1965, it produced 9 million barrels of oil a day, and consumed 11.5 million barrels daily. Then as now, we relied heavily on imports from other producers in the western hemisphere, notably Canada, Mexico and Venezuela. Back in 1965, the western hemisphere was more or less in balance, with 14.6 million barrels a day being produced, and 14.6 million barrels a day being consumed. But those days are long gone. Today the western hemisphere produces about 21 million barrels a day, but it consumes 30 million barrels daily.
(Continued here.)
Huffington Post
"My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East" John McCain, May 2, 2008
Put aside, for the moment, McCain's suggestion that we invaded Iraq in 2003 because of oil. His energy policy "that we will be talking about" is nothing more than hot air. When he said it "will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East" I could tell the he was in way over his head. Here's a very simple primer on the global economics of oil, to demonstrate why McCain is, once again, way off base.
1. The U.S. imports 2/3 of the oil it consumes. That fraction will not dramatically change any time soon.
The United States has been a net importer of oil since the 1960s. In 1965, it produced 9 million barrels of oil a day, and consumed 11.5 million barrels daily. Then as now, we relied heavily on imports from other producers in the western hemisphere, notably Canada, Mexico and Venezuela. Back in 1965, the western hemisphere was more or less in balance, with 14.6 million barrels a day being produced, and 14.6 million barrels a day being consumed. But those days are long gone. Today the western hemisphere produces about 21 million barrels a day, but it consumes 30 million barrels daily.
(Continued here.)
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