Pouring oil onto the troubled waters of the Gulf, Red Sea, Malacca Straits, and South China Sea is not going to bring us any smoother sailing. We are in for rough seas. Every time someone opines that we intervened in the mid-east strictly for our own (oil) good, they are shortsighted. We did so to keep the world moving. All of it.
That is in gravest peril now. Once, our Navy kept things fairly even keeled. That is well nigh "over and done"
what to do? what to do? what to do?
The Front Porch here knows; we need to spread the word.
The current administration has made massive mistakes in energy policy from day one. They have dithered and played divest-to-reinvest games with the Navy since day one. Why would we expect them to take prompt, decisive action to fix either of those???
Defense Production Act some more refineries? New Farm Bill have us concentrate on oilseeds for biofuels and materials to stretch petroleum supplies? Coal-to-Liquid Fuel plants get built over enviros objections? Are we willing to do all these to keep things running or not?
Wait a minute Sal. We have (don't we?) the GREAT GREEN FLEET!!!
Despite $26 per Gallon costs the USN still believes it is fighting the global "climate crisis" AND finding the elusive multi-colored unicorns. So the US of A is good on this oil thingie. Let the others defend their own interests in those far off choke points. And in 5 years it won't matter to many EU countries as they will have a muslim majority, and the winds of political change will blow strong.
From All Hands
"Great Green Fleet Themes
For the Navy and Marine Corps, energy efficiency provides:
COMBAT ADVANTAGE- Using energy efficiently enables us to go farther, stay longer and deliver more firepower.
STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE- Using alternative fuels creates flexibility and brings us closer to energy independence.
FORCE PROTECTION ADVANTAGE- Using energy efficiently takes fuel convoys off the road and reduces the amount of time our ships are tied to oilers, reducing vulnerabilities to Sailors and Marines."
Good map to keep in mind. Thank you, CDR. Two points I would like to add.
One. We saw how one container ship - the Ever Given - could stop traffic on the Suez Canal. Imagine what would happen if someone was deliberately trying to do so. Economies of scale can so easily become diseconomies of scale. It was only yesterday that the Maersk Triple E Class (18,000 teu) was the be all and end all of containers shipping. Now, the sky is the limit.
Second concerning the shock of the first energy crisis of the 1970s. That shock might not have been so bad but for the economic policies of the Nixon administration. Does anyone remember Phases I thorugh IV to deal with the inflation stemming from the Vietnam War and the Great Society? (I suspect I am older than CDR Salamander.) Price controls had a deleterious effect throught out the entire energy industry much like rent control has upon housing in New York City.
We sold 1 million barrels out of 180 million barrels to a Houston-based business controlled by China. To say we sold our SPR off "to China" is spurious.
Good morning Commander and all. Just to let you know that there are no hard feelings regarding my sharing of the Tucker Carlson meme, I thought that I would share my joke for today! 😜Yea, my deep Thoughts joke for today: A Rabbi walks into a bar and buys Pornhub. The next thing you know, they are turning the Gaza Strip into a New Las Vegas, Baby!😜😘😎BTW, Rabbi Solomon Friedman owns pornhub, As of Oct 15, 2023.
Let’s start with those sales of SPR oil to the PRC. Proof positive that the nation’s capital is inhabited by idiots and mountebanks. Had I known the Trump administration had done that, as well as the Biden team, I would have cried “foul” and urged my representative to begin impeachment proceedings in 2017. Contrary to the opinion of people in DC, the SPR is NOT a political tool to reduce the domestic price of gas at the pump. And it absolutely should never be sold to our avowed enemies. Selling oil to PRC is akin to selling scrap steel to Japan in the 1930’s.
In high school living on NAS Pensacola (Qtrs 35 by the then photo school, guess now Admin Bldg)...
Big digression... Thats a right interesting patch of real estate. The parade ground had actually been a pretty deep valley/gully the Army had filled in. The area was also the sight of the first Spanish Presidio, Santa Maria del Galve, which predated Fort San Carlos. The valley area where the parade ground is now was where a settlement had sprung up outside the stockade...
The Israelis' aircraft losses were critical. Where the Aviation Schools are now on the former Chevalier Field, was the Pensacola NARF (Naval Air Rework Facility for those who may not be familiar). The Navy was flying A-4C's -then in surplus- to Sherman Field, taken down the 'tow road' to the NARF, repainted, and towed back to Sherman as fast as they could be turned around. There, they were getting put on C-5's for transport to Israel.
How many C-5's are around today that could make that happen?
One afternoon coming home on the bus from school, we were stopped at the front gate by the Marines -armed BTW-, who came aboard the bus, and had all us kids show our ID's. Amazingly, I don't think anybody didn't have theirs!
Found out later it was because DEFCON 3 had been declared...
They are gone now, but on Barrancas Ave, just north of the bridge going onto the base, were 2 gas stations that always had a gas war going on. The prices prior to the Embargo were usually 15-20 cents a gallon. During the gas crisis, the prices spiked to a then stratospheric 50 cents a gal! After things settled down, the prices never got as low as they were, usually about 35 cents.
Great time to grow up! Evokes memories of this contemporaneous ditty...
Saw an article that showed Venezuela as holding the greatest reserves by far; thus RU oligarchy interest and protection of that dictatorial regime that is causing a hollowing exit of intelligentsia. Not sure if it is high quality like Permian basin or Kuwaiti sweet (low sulphur) crude.
The SPR is important; however, along the ANWR there are hundreds of millions of barrels of extractable oil. There is also an untapped field west of Pruhdoe Bay that Kissinger took off the table in the early/mid 70’s when he wanted the Saudis to buy U.S. debt. It is not that we lack the resources, it is that those with their hands on the levers of government are beholden to environmental extremists. Please show me just one person who is against clean water, clean air, or is for pollution. That person only exists in the minds if the Left. Green is the new red and it has been for some time.
Frankly, I'm tired of being a taxpayer subsidizing the price of oil for our 'allies'. Our defense dollars save them something like $75 / bbl on average, it's our hardware being worn down, our people at risk.
I'd be happy with rebuilding our refinery capacity to allow using our oil, for our uses, let foreign oil be refined and used and mostly PAID FOR by the foreigners.
I was with a CARG a BLT, LPD/LSD no choppers, we went on alert in the 1973 war be ready to air transport to the arena, spent a month ashore in Vieques running infantry exercises and classes. Plan was roughly Chopper ride to nearest air strip that could handle C-130 or deploy to back to GITMO for any incursion there.
Today it's worse and scary We are in deep Kimchee here now.
The reason that we're no longer energy independent can be expressed on one word; "BIDEN". It's ENTIRELY the pResident's fault. Which means that it can be reversed. At least a few of the wells could be restarted, and rebuilding much of the fracking infrastructure could be rebuilt within a year. IF there was the political will to do so. Decline is a choice, and Biden chose to diminish the United States significantly. He should be arrested and charged with treason.
All the isolationist and energy independence types forget the impact of global events and markets on us even if we retreat into the impossible dream of a fortress America. Energy independence is a good/desirable thing but not an end all. We are island /maritime nation and if our trade partners' economies are impacted so is ours. In 2020, the United States ranked as the third largest global merchandise EXPORTER (yes we still make stuff). Total import/exports made up about 25% of our GDP in 2020. Think of the economic impact if that was lost.
How would this impact defense alliances? Would our allies put their own individual energy needs ahead of the collective?
I am a bit older than CDR Salamander and I remember the 73-74 oil embargo very well. It severely impacted alliances. I was in Germany at the time and Germany imposed things like no Sunday driving except for emergency vehicles. Germany would not allow us to fly equipment to Israel through/from Germany. Many of our allies stared calling for a more "even handed" policy toward the Arab states. IIRC only the Dutch really stood firm even when they where down to a 90 day supply of oil.
Pouring oil onto the troubled waters of the Gulf, Red Sea, Malacca Straits, and South China Sea is not going to bring us any smoother sailing. We are in for rough seas. Every time someone opines that we intervened in the mid-east strictly for our own (oil) good, they are shortsighted. We did so to keep the world moving. All of it.
That is in gravest peril now. Once, our Navy kept things fairly even keeled. That is well nigh "over and done"
what to do? what to do? what to do?
The Front Porch here knows; we need to spread the word.
The current administration has made massive mistakes in energy policy from day one. They have dithered and played divest-to-reinvest games with the Navy since day one. Why would we expect them to take prompt, decisive action to fix either of those???
Defense Production Act some more refineries? New Farm Bill have us concentrate on oilseeds for biofuels and materials to stretch petroleum supplies? Coal-to-Liquid Fuel plants get built over enviros objections? Are we willing to do all these to keep things running or not?
Wait a minute Sal. We have (don't we?) the GREAT GREEN FLEET!!!
Despite $26 per Gallon costs the USN still believes it is fighting the global "climate crisis" AND finding the elusive multi-colored unicorns. So the US of A is good on this oil thingie. Let the others defend their own interests in those far off choke points. And in 5 years it won't matter to many EU countries as they will have a muslim majority, and the winds of political change will blow strong.
From All Hands
"Great Green Fleet Themes
For the Navy and Marine Corps, energy efficiency provides:
COMBAT ADVANTAGE- Using energy efficiently enables us to go farther, stay longer and deliver more firepower.
STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE- Using alternative fuels creates flexibility and brings us closer to energy independence.
FORCE PROTECTION ADVANTAGE- Using energy efficiently takes fuel convoys off the road and reduces the amount of time our ships are tied to oilers, reducing vulnerabilities to Sailors and Marines."
Good map to keep in mind. Thank you, CDR. Two points I would like to add.
One. We saw how one container ship - the Ever Given - could stop traffic on the Suez Canal. Imagine what would happen if someone was deliberately trying to do so. Economies of scale can so easily become diseconomies of scale. It was only yesterday that the Maersk Triple E Class (18,000 teu) was the be all and end all of containers shipping. Now, the sky is the limit.
Second concerning the shock of the first energy crisis of the 1970s. That shock might not have been so bad but for the economic policies of the Nixon administration. Does anyone remember Phases I thorugh IV to deal with the inflation stemming from the Vietnam War and the Great Society? (I suspect I am older than CDR Salamander.) Price controls had a deleterious effect throught out the entire energy industry much like rent control has upon housing in New York City.
We continue to live in interesting times.
We sold 1 million barrels out of 180 million barrels to a Houston-based business controlled by China. To say we sold our SPR off "to China" is spurious.
Good morning Commander and all. Just to let you know that there are no hard feelings regarding my sharing of the Tucker Carlson meme, I thought that I would share my joke for today! 😜Yea, my deep Thoughts joke for today: A Rabbi walks into a bar and buys Pornhub. The next thing you know, they are turning the Gaza Strip into a New Las Vegas, Baby!😜😘😎BTW, Rabbi Solomon Friedman owns pornhub, As of Oct 15, 2023.
Love you guys! Hurrah!
Let’s start with those sales of SPR oil to the PRC. Proof positive that the nation’s capital is inhabited by idiots and mountebanks. Had I known the Trump administration had done that, as well as the Biden team, I would have cried “foul” and urged my representative to begin impeachment proceedings in 2017. Contrary to the opinion of people in DC, the SPR is NOT a political tool to reduce the domestic price of gas at the pump. And it absolutely should never be sold to our avowed enemies. Selling oil to PRC is akin to selling scrap steel to Japan in the 1930’s.
And gas rationed by odd or even license plate numbers…
Memories of '73 Yom Kippur...
In high school living on NAS Pensacola (Qtrs 35 by the then photo school, guess now Admin Bldg)...
Big digression... Thats a right interesting patch of real estate. The parade ground had actually been a pretty deep valley/gully the Army had filled in. The area was also the sight of the first Spanish Presidio, Santa Maria del Galve, which predated Fort San Carlos. The valley area where the parade ground is now was where a settlement had sprung up outside the stockade...
https://www.c-span.org/video/?107848-1/presidio-santa-maria-de-galve
https://uwf.edu/cassh/community-outreach/anthropology-and-archaeology/research/faculty-and-staff-projects/colonial/presidio-santa-maria-de-galve/
https://www.amazon.com/Presidio-Santa-Mar%C3%ADa-Galve-Pensacola/dp/0813026601
Anywho...
The Israelis' aircraft losses were critical. Where the Aviation Schools are now on the former Chevalier Field, was the Pensacola NARF (Naval Air Rework Facility for those who may not be familiar). The Navy was flying A-4C's -then in surplus- to Sherman Field, taken down the 'tow road' to the NARF, repainted, and towed back to Sherman as fast as they could be turned around. There, they were getting put on C-5's for transport to Israel.
How many C-5's are around today that could make that happen?
One afternoon coming home on the bus from school, we were stopped at the front gate by the Marines -armed BTW-, who came aboard the bus, and had all us kids show our ID's. Amazingly, I don't think anybody didn't have theirs!
Found out later it was because DEFCON 3 had been declared...
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/1973-america-russia-almost-fought-nuclear-war-over-syria-25340
They are gone now, but on Barrancas Ave, just north of the bridge going onto the base, were 2 gas stations that always had a gas war going on. The prices prior to the Embargo were usually 15-20 cents a gallon. During the gas crisis, the prices spiked to a then stratospheric 50 cents a gal! After things settled down, the prices never got as low as they were, usually about 35 cents.
Great time to grow up! Evokes memories of this contemporaneous ditty...
Music was -definitely- better then:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NwP3wes4M8
Saw an article that showed Venezuela as holding the greatest reserves by far; thus RU oligarchy interest and protection of that dictatorial regime that is causing a hollowing exit of intelligentsia. Not sure if it is high quality like Permian basin or Kuwaiti sweet (low sulphur) crude.
The SPR is important; however, along the ANWR there are hundreds of millions of barrels of extractable oil. There is also an untapped field west of Pruhdoe Bay that Kissinger took off the table in the early/mid 70’s when he wanted the Saudis to buy U.S. debt. It is not that we lack the resources, it is that those with their hands on the levers of government are beholden to environmental extremists. Please show me just one person who is against clean water, clean air, or is for pollution. That person only exists in the minds if the Left. Green is the new red and it has been for some time.
Frankly, I'm tired of being a taxpayer subsidizing the price of oil for our 'allies'. Our defense dollars save them something like $75 / bbl on average, it's our hardware being worn down, our people at risk.
I'd be happy with rebuilding our refinery capacity to allow using our oil, for our uses, let foreign oil be refined and used and mostly PAID FOR by the foreigners.
I was with a CARG a BLT, LPD/LSD no choppers, we went on alert in the 1973 war be ready to air transport to the arena, spent a month ashore in Vieques running infantry exercises and classes. Plan was roughly Chopper ride to nearest air strip that could handle C-130 or deploy to back to GITMO for any incursion there.
Today it's worse and scary We are in deep Kimchee here now.
The reason that we're no longer energy independent can be expressed on one word; "BIDEN". It's ENTIRELY the pResident's fault. Which means that it can be reversed. At least a few of the wells could be restarted, and rebuilding much of the fracking infrastructure could be rebuilt within a year. IF there was the political will to do so. Decline is a choice, and Biden chose to diminish the United States significantly. He should be arrested and charged with treason.
All the isolationist and energy independence types forget the impact of global events and markets on us even if we retreat into the impossible dream of a fortress America. Energy independence is a good/desirable thing but not an end all. We are island /maritime nation and if our trade partners' economies are impacted so is ours. In 2020, the United States ranked as the third largest global merchandise EXPORTER (yes we still make stuff). Total import/exports made up about 25% of our GDP in 2020. Think of the economic impact if that was lost.
How would this impact defense alliances? Would our allies put their own individual energy needs ahead of the collective?
I am a bit older than CDR Salamander and I remember the 73-74 oil embargo very well. It severely impacted alliances. I was in Germany at the time and Germany imposed things like no Sunday driving except for emergency vehicles. Germany would not allow us to fly equipment to Israel through/from Germany. Many of our allies stared calling for a more "even handed" policy toward the Arab states. IIRC only the Dutch really stood firm even when they where down to a 90 day supply of oil.