The oil industry speaks

The Springfield Citizens Club (Illinois) held a forum on oil Friday morning. This was a one-sided presentation from the oil industry but it was interesting to hear their perspective.

Dave Sykuta of the Illinois Petroleum Council was the most predictable speaker. His job is to represent the financial interests of the oil industry, no matter how it effects everyone else, and everything he said reflected that. I didn't expect to agree with anything he said but it turns out that we'd both like to see a Cards-White Sox world series.

Sykuta took the usual rhetorical tactic of the oil industry and their talk radio stooges who blame everything on environmentalists. He kept urging people in the audience to get involved in the political debate so that the big bad Sierra Club and NRDC aren't the only groups with a voice. With Orwellian irony he presented the oil companies as helpless victims of a political process rigged against them.

I'm sure it must be awfully difficult for the oil industry to scrape together enough money to buy influence with politicians, especially with two oilmen in the White House. Poor fellas. I really feel for them. He seemed especially irritated by Senator Dick Durbin, which confirms my belief that Durbin is doing an excellent job.

The main source of power for environmental groups is public support and the strength of their arguments, unlike the oil industry that relies on campaign contributions, conservative voices in the media and their economic power. Sykuta referred to people not wanting "smelly" refineries near them but he didn't mention the public health effects of those refineries or auto tailpipe emissions. His industry is having a hard time precisely because the public is becoming more educated and involved.

Sykuta used the common straw-man argument that those who oppose more drilling want to "do nothing." Early in the presentation he said the oil industry supports conservation and alternative fuels, but later he claimed we would be primarily reliant on gasoline for another 40-50 years. That makes it pretty clear that their talk about supporting alternatives is a smokescreen.

Planning to stay dependent on oil for another 50 years equates to doing nothing. We don't need to wait 50 years to use technology that's available today. If more drilling is the only answer we pursue then we'll always be at the mercy of the oil industry.

By contrast, environmentalists have been the ones proposing realistic solutions for decades. How much less would Americans be spending on gas if we had taken the advice of environmentalists over the years by having better federal fuel economy standards? We're paying a high price for taking the oil industry approach of doing nothing.

Sykuta also had plenty to say about the problems with biofuels but I never heard the words "electric car" pass his lips. Its the solution the industry doesn't care to acknowledge. They'd prefer we do nothing other than buy more of their product. Doing nothing is exactly what the industry stood for when they opposed the Illinois Clean Car Act, which would have resulted in improved fuel economy, lower toxic emissions, and more alternative cars on the road.

One word that repeatedly came up during the program was China. China, India and the rest of the world are expected to dramatically increase their oil consumption in the coming years. Grady Chronister, of Qik n Ez, was the most frank about the fact that its unlikely new drilling will lower the price of gas in the long run because of rising demand from China.

I asked the panel whether the industry would continue to expand drilling for Canada's tar sands oil if the price of gas came down. It costs more to drill and refine oil from that source which is why the industry hasn't pursued it as aggressively in the past as they are now.  Engineer Bob Podlasek acknowledged that the push for Canada's tar sands and coal-to-liquid fuel are "market driven" meaning that they're more realistic investments now that oil prices are very high.

It confirmed my belief that the real motivation for drilling in these new areas is to provide more oil for China and other nations. It won't lower the price of gas because low gas prices would make drilling for the more expensive oil uneconomical. The oil industry is exploiting high gas prices to argue for something they've wanted to do for many years.

Gas prices will never come down as long as we follow the oil industry path of doing nothing but drill, drill and more drill. If we want to be free of high gas bills then we need to make the switch to hybrid and all-electric cars. Then we can all be like the Prius drivers who snicker at people putting $4.00 per gallon gas into their Escalade.

Cross-posted from thereisaway.us