Tucson Citizen
Book Review: Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of “Energy Independence”
With gas prices rising in southern Arizona, the publication of Bryce’s new book couldn’t be more timely. Bryce, who has written extensively about energy for more than two decades, is convinced that despite the push for energy independence by our leaders, it is an idea that might not be possible. As he points out, the integration and interdependence of the $5-trillion-per-year global energy business can be seen by examining Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer on the planet.
With gas prices rising in southern Arizona, the publication of Bryce’s new book couldn’t be more timely. Bryce, who has written extensively about energy for more than two decades, is convinced that despite the push for energy independence by our leaders, it is an idea that might not be possible. As he points out, the integration and interdependence of the $5-trillion-per-year global energy business can be seen by examining Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer on the planet.
The Saudis, despite their rich reserves, import 83,000 barrels of gasoline and other refined oil products per day. That’s import, not export. Iran imports about 40 percent of its gasoline needs in addition to large quantities of natural gas from Turkmenistan. Bryce believes that if the Saudis, with their 260 billion barrels of oil reserves, and the Iranians, with their 132 billion barrels of oil and 970 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, can’t be energy independent, why should the United States even try?
In his fascinating new book, the author offers a reality check and recommends that instead of energy independence, the U.S. should strive for what he calls energy interdependence. This process of depending on others has worked in the marketplace for countless commodities such as uranium, natural gas and jet fuel. Because the global market is growing ever more sophisticated, Bryce suggests it’s silly for the United States to continue deluding itself about the need for independence.
Bryce does not think energy independence will reduce or eliminate terrorism because the two largest suppliers of crude to the United States are Canada and Mexico, neither exactly known as a belligerent terrorist haven. A push for alternative fuels, such as corn-ethanol, will simply not produce anything approaching the amount we need. Bryce points out that since we are woven into the fabric that is the rest of the world, we should accept the fact that the global energy market is just that: global.
Original story available here: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/frontpage/80193.php
