The Institute for Energy Research (IER) in their post on Big Peace (America Can Be An Energy Superpower) make some powerful statements concerning America’s energy potential:
America could have enough oil resources to meet today’s oil demand levels … for decades without importing from unfriendly foreign countries. That is the conclusion of a new report from the National Petroleum Council (NPC). The report also finds that America has huge volumes of natural gas that can meet decades of demand.
The IER article also states that Government statistics show that America is the third largest oil producer in the world and the largest producer of natural gas.
In other words, the only thing keeping us from being totally energy independent, while remaining a major exporter, is debilitating regulation forced on our country by the environmentalists and liberalism, with major support from the liberal media.
This feels like the “Black Sox Scandal,” where key players for the best team (Chicago White Sox) conspired to throw the 1919 World Series. They had their rationale: they didn’t like the boss. The current administration has their rationale: they don’t like what they perceive our capitalistic system is doing to the environment and the poor. So … they are throwing the game, and they are ignorant as to the potentially devastating consequences of their actions.
The Chinese Communists are well aware of the necessity of energy in order to become a world superpower. Because of this, they are committed to acquiring as much of the world’s energy resources as possible. President Clinton, too, is well aware of China’s commitment to energy, from every source available, even if, in their mind, it puts the world at risk:
China is the number one investor in clean energy technology … they believe [climate change] is real … they still won’t support the [Kyoto] agreement. Why? Because they don’t know for sure that a country can get rich, stay rich, and get richer without putting more green house gases in the atmosphere. … Nothing’s gonna happen in this space until people see that market economies can make profits and generate jobs out of reducing green house gas emissions.
An article, “Another U.S. Solar Firm Files for Bankruptcy,” from the IER makes it very clear that China has effectively cornered the world market for solar energy, driving numerous U.S. solar panel companies into bankruptcy. It is very interesting to note that the New York Times reported this possibility over two years ago, ” ‘I don’t see Europe or the United States becoming major producers of solar products — they’ll be consumers,’ said Thomas M. Zarrella, the chief executive of GT Solar International.”
China is interested in all forms of energy production because, as Brookings reported in July, China has immense supplies of coal but very little oil, currently depending on foreign oil to supply over half of their domestic consumption, with projections that by 2015 that will increase to 60-70 percent. In addition, even though they are the second largest consumer of oil in the world (the U.S. is first), they only have about 1.2 percent of the world’s reserves.
Brookings believes that China will have a problem balancing their responsibility as a member of the world community with their critical energy needs. Brookings assumes that China’s goal is to become a cooperative member of the world community; that China can only attain the influence and power it desires by working with the rest of the world to solve the world’s problems, sharing the world’s resources fairly.
This post assumes exactly the opposite: that China sees the greatest opportunity for their security and ultimate success by dominating the world and its resources economically, politically, and socially. Once we accept the possibility that world domination is the ultimate goal of the Chinese, then any activities of theirs toward assuring their energy security begins to make sense.
Where will China get the oil that it needs so badly? In 2004 The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security reported the following:
China’s expectation of growing future dependence on oil imports has brought it to acquire interests in exploration and production in places like Kazakhstan, Russia, Venezuela, Sudan, West Africa, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Canada. But despite its efforts to diversify its sources, China has become increasingly dependent on Middle East oil. Today, 58% of China’s oil imports come from the region. By 2015, the share of Middle East oil will stand on 70%.
The report goes on to state:
… attempts to gain a foothold in the Middle East and build up long-term strategic links with countries hostile to the U.S. could also bear heavily on U.S.-China relations. Especially troubling are China’s arms sales to the region, its support of state sponsors of terrorism and its proliferation of dual use technology.
China is willing to forge any alliance, take any action, that serves their needs; including massive investment in energy resources around the world.
The Independent (Asia) reported that, “China is pouring another $7bn into Brazil’s oil industry, reigniting fears of a global “land grab” of natural resources.” In addition, Sinopec provided:
… a $10bn loan to Petrobras, … in return for guaranteed supplies of 10,000 barrels of oil every day for the next 10 years.
This year alone, Chinese companies have laid out billions of dollars buying up stakes in Canada’s oil sands, a Guinean iron ore mine, oil fields in Angola and Uganda, an Argentinian oil company and a major Australian coal-bed methane gas company.
“China is rich in people but short of resources, and it wants to have stable supplies of its own rather than having to buy on the open market,” Jonathan Fenby, China expert and director of research group Trusted Resources, said.
But the Middle East, Africa, and South America are not the only places from where China is trying to obtain its oil; the The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security report also states that they are very actively involved in making deals to obtain a significant percentage of Canadian oil. The loss of a major portion of this source would be devastating for the U.S. This is especially true because of current regulations of the Obama Administration to significantly limit the ability of the U.S. to develop its own fossil-fuel energy industry.
There is also strong evidence that China is supporting Cuba’s exploration and drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico just 60 miles from Florida. “There will be at least 5 wells, deeper than the BP Deepwater Horizon well that ruptured last year in the Gulf of Mexico, and they will be using rehabbed old Chinese equipment similar to what broke for British Petroleum.”
Many of our politicians and Chinese “experts” continue to believe that China has no interest in causing issues with the United States; that the United States market, as well as our loan situation, is too important to them. With this assumption as a foundation for their beliefs, they tend to ignore data that contradicts what they believe. For example, here are some quotes from an article in Grist accusing Cheney of perpetuating a myth about a China-Cuba oil partnership.
During his “drill, drill, drill” rant yesterday, Dick Cheney complained that Cuba and China are drilling for oil closer to the coast of Florida than American companies are currently allowed. It’s become a common talking point for Republicans arguing that more areas should be opened to drilling — but, reports McClatchy, it appears to be bogus.
[N]o one can prove that the Chinese are drilling anywhere off Cuba’s shoreline. The China-Cuba connection is “akin to urban legend,” said Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican from Florida who opposes drilling off the coast of his state but who backs exploration in ANWR.
“China is not drilling in Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico waters, period,” said Jorge Pinon, an energy fellow with the Center for Hemispheric Policy at the University of Miami and an expert in oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Martinez cited Pinon’s research when he took to the Senate floor Wednesday to set the record straight.
To ignore data that doesn’t agree with what we hope is taking place causes us to make bad decisions. We cannot afford to underestimate the danger to America’s socio-economic health with hopeful assumptions and unreasonable energy policies (any policies that assume that alternative energy solutions will be able to replace fossil fuels within the next couple of decades).
Modern societies depend on the availability of cheap, reliable sources of energy and until our technology is able to develop alternative sources, fossil fuels are our best choice for the foreseeable future. All of the hope and prayers in the world will not provide the technological breakthroughs necessary for alternative fuels to become cost effective. Putting our society at risk on a hope and prayer is unacceptable, probably criminal, and potentially treasonous.
This is the fifth article published by this author in Big Peace on the potential for China to achieve world domination. The other four articles can be found here.