Republican President George Bush famously described the United States as "addicted to oil." And along with so many presidents (and pundits) before him, Bush proclaimed America must pursue "energy independence."
I've heard this line since Carter addressed the nation in a sweater and told us all to turn our thermostats down. Carter put solar panels on the White House and started the first attempts to develop alternative and renewable energy. But as the chart below the Kosmark shows, presidential rhetoric has more often than not been far out of step with what their policies produced, except for Obama.
For the first time since 1949 the US has become a net exporter of oil related energy products, this Bloomberg article and chart shows:
Dozens of U.S. companies will benefit as North America becomes “the new Middle East” for energy production during this decade, according to Citigroup Inc.’s analysts.
The CHART OF THE DAY depicts the gap between U.S. exports and imports of oil products, as compiled monthly by the Energy Department since 1973. Commodity analysts at Citigroup cited net exports in a report two days ago to support their view about the continent’s prospects.
Shipments of gasoline, diesel fuel and other products surpassed imports by an average of 439,000 barrels a day in 2011, according to the department. Last year was the first time since 1949 that the U.S. was a net exporter. Crude-oil output exceeded 2 billion barrels for the first time since 2003.
While I am more than aware that America becoming the new Middle East for fossil fuel is not good news for the environment, the point I'm trying to make here is that Obama has done a terrific job of actually moving the US toward the oft proclaimed goal of US energy independence.
Even on the environmental impact, Bloomberg has interesting news showing the US falling behind China in carbon sequestration technology. Take a look at China shows US how to push for carbon capture
You wouldn't know any of this if you just watched Fox, most of the mainstream media, or all the ads by Republicans. They're unaware that taxes are lower under Obama than anytime since WWII and that America is now, according to that liberal bastion Citigroup, the new Middle East for energy production.
Why do Republicans hate America, Obama and the Democrats so much? Isn't this exactly what they say they want?
While Newt promises he'll magically return gas back under 3 bucks a gallon, and Romney claims most improbably that Obama has somehow schemed to push gas toward 5 bucks a gallon because . . .well . . .because somehow that will benefit Obama's re-election, Obama has turned America into a net oil exporter for the first time since 1949.
True, the price of gas has gone up, and will fluctuate higher in years to come even if we become the new Middle East. The price of gas reflects global demand, not American supply. And as usual there's more than a little speculation driving prices skyward, as today's drop shows. Settle the Iran issue, and oil will drop to about 85 bucks a barrel for awhile.
But the fact is, as the chart below shows, the price of gas here has nothing to do with the supply. We have plenty of it, and we're selling it overseas to the tune of over 400,000 barrels a day.
This good news for our perennial trade deficit won't last if the Republicans have their way, however. "Drill baby drill" was the Republican solution to energy dependence under McCain-Palin. Well, energy firms are drilling at record rates, we're producing more oil products than we can use, and what do Republicans want to do now? The current obstructionist Republican-controlled House wants to pass a "transport" bill that rolls back any and all forms of energy efficient transport. These same Republicans equated energy wasting light bulbs with freedom--so much for their commitment to making America energy independent in truth.
In reality, they don't like freedom from dependence on foreign oil. If we're not dependent on foreign oil, then we lose a big excuse for keeping our military larger than the rest of the planet put together.
Now for the proof that Republicans don't really want America energy independent.
If you look closely at the chart at the link below, I've taken the Bloomberg chart and added presidential timelines. The dark lines represent regression lines which show overall trends during the presidential terms. The dotted line divides net imports in dark red/purple from net exports in blue.
Chart of Net Oil imports/exports 1975-1012
You can see clearly that progress under Carter stalled and then reversed under Reagan, the same guy who ripped the solar panels off the White House. George HW Bush managed progress, helped no doubt by the first Gulf War and deep fears that the US would lose access to Middle East oil. Americans responded by cutting back use and pumping up production. But progress stopped and reversed under Clinton, especially after the Republican takeover of both houses of Congress in 1994. Of course he had only 2 years of a Democratic controlled Congress, but he clearly was ineffective in turning things around, especially with so much Republican obstruction, including, if you remember, them shutting down the government for awhile. George Bush, as with everything else, ushered in a disastrous 8 years for domestic energy production, and only the economic collapse of 2008-09 added even a glint of progress toward energy independence.
Then came Obama and 2 years of a Democratic controlled Congress.
Obama may have been helped by the downturn too, but clearly, something else took hold under this president and the Democrats. While the economy has slowly been recovering and is now doing better than any time since 2006 by several measures, progress toward energy independence has been rocketing along. Obama has produced what the Republicans have been merely claiming they wanted: turning America into the new Middle East for energy production.
Next time your Republican neighbor grouses about the price of oil, tell him about this. We're paying more for oil not because we're producing less. We're actually exporting more than anytime since 1949 because we've improved our energy efficiency so much and reduced our dependence on oil imports so much. It's going up in price because Republicans keep insisting on subsidizing Big Oil's profits and supporting every chance Big Oil has to sell American oil and energy products to the highest bidder, American or not.
Republicans hate America and hate freedom from foreign oil dependence, because Republicans insist on burning all the oil they can in every wasteful way possible, including subsidizing inefficient lightbulbs the rest of the world has already rejected. It's because Republicans fight every increase in auto mileage efficiency, every piece of energy efficient public transport, every alternative energy bill.
They obviously want us dependent on foreign oil, because then they can justify what they really want, a huge military. And they want a huge military establishment not because they value freedom; it's because they value profits that come from government mandated military expenditures.
Who really wants America to have greater freedoms, including freedom from dependence on foreign oil? Democrats, and the proof is in the record.