Don't Get Me Started

 Don't Get Me Started

Andy’s energy policy, part one... Refineries

By ANDY HEFTY

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- If there is one thing -- one solitary action -- that this nation could take in getting the cost of energy under control, it is lifting the burdensome regulation on the system of refining crude oil into all of its related petroleum products. OPEC could triple their output tomorrow, and our refineries couldn’t handle it. So the first step in this series is to increase our 

Andy Hefty

capacity to convert oil to gas, plastic, medicine, lubricants, cosmetics, paint, and all the other petroleum-based products we take for granted.

Pop quiz!

Question #1: How many US refineries have been built in the last 30 years? Answer: zero.

That’s right. When you have simple capitalistic laws of supply and demand, you have certain requirements to keep the prices down. One of those is to maintain your facilities and perhaps build a new one once in a while. Environmental regulations, local protests, and heavy regulation have kept "big oil" from being able to dig the first shovel on a single refinery in 30 years.

And that doesn’t even take into account any local governments and residents losing their collective cool when a developer proposes a new refinery. Your typical NIMBY crowd screams and hollers one grievance after another. It’s somewhat like trying to build a new prison. Everyone demands that it be built -- somewhere else. And they don’t have to look ugly and be overly polluting as the ones we remember. I’m absolutely certain that our American engineering firms can produce clean, attractive plants that are environmentally friendly. They did it with car plants, so why not with an oil refinery or twelve?

Question #2: How much has refining demand increased in America during those same three decades? Answer: four times. That’s 400%.

According to the US Census Bureau, the overall population in 1980 was roughly 226 million people. Today, there are over 304 million people. That’s a nearly 50% increase. Couple that with the number of cars per household doubling in 30 years. Mix in ever-increasing air traffic, highway usage, vacation packages, and all other intangible statistics, like kids cruising the neighborhood just because they can, and demand has increased fourfold.

Question #3: How many refineries during that time are still in operation? Answer: fewer than half.

Just do a little research. It’s amazing. The numbers don’t lie. Half the refineries, four times the demand, and no new facilities. In my book that’s called a bottleneck.

Question #4: Who was the last US President to tie the hands of oil refineries by executive order by requiring costly strip-down overhauls whenever they needed to simply make the process more efficient? Answer: Bill Clinton, at the behest of his vice president, Al Gore.

Yes, the same Al Gore who blames global "warming" for everything but his sky-high electric bill. By the way, did you know the former Vice President uses enough energy each month to power the homes of an average American for two years? And his Gulfstream jet sucks more jet fuel in one coast-to-coast jaunt than a Hummer H2 does in a full year. Oh, but he’s carbon-neutral because he purchases offsets from himself.

Oh, please. Thanks, Al. Tie the hands of the producers, demand everyone else cut their usage, but use up what you can for yourself. That makes you a textbook hypocrite. A self-righteous, narcissistic, pompous, hypocrite. There, I’ve said it. I feel better now.

Final question: How many petroleum blends are refineries required by the Environmental Protection Agency to produce? Answer: more than one for each state.

Say what? You got it. Government, in its infinite folly, has decided that all the various regions around the nation need their own special blend of gasoline. Each time a refinery produces a different blend for a different region, they have to shut down, recalibrate, re-formulate, test, certify, and finally begin production. Lost time. Lost money. Lost patience at the pump. And if a region runs out of their blend before more is produced, the price will go up as stations have to shop the nation for compatible blends. Watch the price jump.

Here’s an idea. Why not settle the requirements to one blend for the winter and one for the summer? Have a few refineries in the south always produce summer blends, since it’s always hot, and the ones in the north can recalibrate according to seasonal changes? That way, no more than a few refineries are shut down at a time, and that for less time each year?

Oh, yeah. That’s because it makes sense. Silly me.

Here are a few more ideas.

Lift the regulations. Use the free market. Remember when AT&T was the only kid on the block? Calling long distance to the Planet California would run more than a tank of gas. Now, we can call Guam from our cell phones for nothing more than our monthly fee. De-regulation was the primary cause. Consumer benefit and innovation were the primary effects.

Use the old military installations, shut down and now overgrown with weeds, as the site for a new refinery. Since many of them have environmental concerns because of military usage, it seems like a perfect place. Local jobs, local land use, and lots of money flowing through.

Refine offshore. In addition to drilling (to be covered in the next column), why not build your offshore platforms with refineries that can produce gasoline for shipping directly to outlets. The remaining by-products can be refined at other facilities.

Take them or leave them. But either way, if we as a nation don’t do more soon, we will pay as much as Europe for a gallon of gas.

Next week: Drilling.

Andy is a father of 13 children who lives with his wife of over 23 years in Baker County, Florida. His opinions usually center around mixing politics and religion with hot-button topics as his specialty. You can contact him at  ACHefty@yahoo.com.