The statistics Waterman shared provide compelling evidence that the time to change our energy-guzzling habits and find new ways to fuel our affluent lifestyles needs to be sooner rather than later. For example:
• The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population, but uses 25 percent of the world’s energy resources.
• Oil consumption in the United States is about one-third higher than that of other industrialized nations. The average U.S. citizen uses about 23.4 barrels of oil, compared to 14 barrels of oil used by those who live in Japan and 0.8 barrels by those in India.
• The gap between oil imports and domestic production has increased dramatically — from 8 percent in 1971 to 60 percent and rising today.
• Of the top nine countries from which the United States imports oil, seven of them are politically unstable.
• There is no spare oil capacity in the world today; supply and demand are roughly 85 million barrels of oil per day.
• The demand is expected to increase to 120 million barrels of oil per day by 2020. A $17 trillion investment is needed to maintain today’s rate of production.
• Oil discoveries have lagged behind consumption every year for the past 20 years. In 2005, total oil discoveries equaled 4.5 billion barrels, or a 53-day supply.
• Ever-increasing energy prices will be devastating to the state’s economy in more ways than one. Airlines, for example, will not be able to absorb $90-100 barrel oil prices and air-accessible tourist destinations like Alaska will wither.
While higher energy prices are a given, Waterman presented some practical ideas on how best to cope with the inevitable, including conserving and improving energy efficiency with everything from changing incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent, or CF, bulbs to trading in old gas guzzlers for more energy-efficient cars to buying appliances based on their life-cycle costs, not just the costs on the showroom floor. He estimates that $12 invested in efficiency measures saves a barrel of oil. With the price of oil at between $55 and $60 a barrel, that’s no small savings.
Other ideas require a more concerted effort: more mass transit, less dependence on automobiles, more local agriculture and more energy-efficient businesses. Neighborhoods that are designed for people and not vehicles lend themselves to walking and, consequently, energy efficiency.
Changing our food production and food distribution systems would go a long way in making the nation more energy efficient. In the United States, the average piece of food travels 1,500 miles from farm to plate; in Alaska, it’s 5,000 miles. Bringing one cow to market requires six barrels of oil. Changing the system so that locally grown products get priority over “imports” would go a long way in reducing the energy needed to get food to the market.
Waterman is correct when he tells Alaskans there is no silver bullet to help them change their ways. It will require a whole systems approach that includes combinations of conservation, energy efficiency and the use of renewable sources of power including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal.
It will take individuals changing their energy habits and pushing governments to realize the old way of doing things is not acceptable. It will take understanding that energy efficiency is not only good for the planet, it’s also good for business. If the United States were as energy efficient as Japan or Sweden, we would spend $600 billion less per year on energy at oil prices of $60 per barrel, notes Waterman.
Those who have been given a lot have a greater responsibility to use what they’ve been given wisely. Certainly, our state and nation have been blessed with abundant resources. As good stewards, we need to add some urgency to our desire to find better ways to fuel our economy and our way of life.
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