Windpower Engineering & Development Editorial Director Paul Dvorak
Energy information site Platts Power posted an article titled The U.S. obsession with energy imports and why Europe doesn’t sweat it. The article states that Europe isn’t phased by importing 80% of its energy from countries such as Russia, and wonders why the U.S. is so bothered by petroleum imports that top 66%.
Silly us. What could possibly go wrong with that 80% arrangement, other than an increasing percentage and dependence? The site The Oil Drum forecasts that Europe’s oil imports are set to grow by 29% this year.
The cavalier attitude seems too trustful of countries that do not have a history of trust. Russia, for example, has on at least one occasion turned off the gas to countries with which it has had disagreements. Even now Mr. Putin does not hide his contempt for Western Europe and the U.S. So mind your Ps and Qs, Mr. and Mrs. Europe.
Furthermore, from this side of the pond, $10/gal gasoline in the U.K. should be considered legal theft. It would also be easy to argue that the lack of concern with energy sources contributed in part to the current economic mess.
With sufficient development of wind power and natural gas, there would be enough natural gas to export. Then the U.S. has a revenue stream coming in (that spells jobs and growth) instead of one gushing out.
Former Intel president Andrew Grove titled his business book Only the paranoid survive. Grove is right. It’s pays to be a little suspicious.
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