Reams have been written on the subject of why energy independence is not only a good idea but a feasible one. I have no new reasoning to add, nor is any new reasoning necessary given the strength and clarity of the arguments that have already been made. Let this diary serve merely as a reminder of where we stand today, and where we could be standing in a near future that is both cleaner and freer.
July 10th marked U.S. Energy Independence Day in America and Global Energy Independence Day around the world. The date was chosen in honor of the birth of Nikola Tesla, with the goal of promoting, well . . . energy independence! Born in Serbia, Tesla immigrated to the United States in order to pursue his dream of becoming an inventor, eventually rising to renown as the Father of Electricity. Best remembered for his advocacy of AC or alternating current electrical systems (and for his antagonistic relationship with Thomas Edison, himself a proponent of DC or direct current), Tesla has lately reclaimed his place in the popular imagination thanks not only to having the world’s most famous electric car company named after him or because he foresaw things like wireless internet, but because his dream of a world run on clean electricity has finally come to be seen as a graspable and indeed necessary reality. It is therefore quite appropriate that Energy Independence Day was scheduled in Tesla’s honor.
Energy is what powers everything, from the elements of the natural world to our own bodies to our modes of transportation to our electrical grids. We couldn’t get along without it, and it is precisely our ability to transform, transport, and otherwise manipulate energy that has made possible our entire human civilization: plants use the sun’s energy to grow; animals get their energy by eating those plants; humans (and other omnivores) consume both plants and animals as sources of caloric energy, which is then transformed by our bodies into physical growth and motion that we can use to mold the world around us.
We as a species have put our energy into foraging, hunting, and gathering, fashioning clothing and shelter, raising settlements and cities, electrifying the world, and building up complex global connections, networks, and economies. And where do we get the energy to fuel all this growth? Nowadays, an outsized portion—some 85% as of 2017—comes from fossil fuels.
Our societies have long since grown accustomed to fossil fuels, and the extensive infrastructure we have been steadily building up around them makes their continued use the seeming path of least resistance. But as most of us comprehend, this apparent ease is but a short-term specter.
Firstly, the burning of fossil fuels has changed the make-up of our atmosphere to the point of initiating and now accelerating the process of human-caused climate change. There is broad consensus regarding the basic mechanisms and detrimental nature of climate change to the stability of the environment and our place in it, so I will not waste my personal energy defending what has already been well established.
Secondly, fossil fuels are a finite resource. They will eventually run out. Here I cannot resist the temptation to add: maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday, and for the rest of our lives.
In the meantime, and thirdly, their extraction is becoming an increasingly difficult endeavor. Drills grind ever deeper down, beginning to push the limits of their strength; fracking is turning areas once seismically stable into foci for earthquake swarms, coal mining operations are beginning to struggle, perhaps ironically, to stay in the black . . .
So these are some of the problems our current energy model has created. But let’s turn away from the environmental to examine the current geopolitics of energy. As things stand now, over half of petroleum demand in the United States is actually met by domestic production. However, close to half is still imported, including from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Iraq (the second-, fourth-, and fifth-ranked importers of petroleum products to the U.S., respectively). The geopolitical difficulties we have had and/or continue to have with these countries are well known.
And it’s not just our top petroleum providers we need to be worried about. Recently Iran has loomed large as a potential disruptor of global oil supply, having been accused earlier this summer of attacking oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and threatened to block the free movement of tankers through the Straight of Hormuz. International discord with this near-nuclear power would be best avoided, I’m sure we would all agree.
While the ability of the United States to meet its petroleum-based energy needs despite these entanglements is not at present particularly threatened, a national security vision that takes the long view is clearly superior to a more myopic one. To say nothing of our and global markets’ preference that supply-side uncertainty not introduce price instability or unpredictability.
Finally, perhaps least importantly in practical terms but of paramount import emotionally: since when has America ever relished even the appearance of reliance on anyone else? This is one instance where our normally ill-advised go-it-alone instincts could actually prove useful.
Now, currently, we are poised to be relatively independent, as described below:
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently published their 2019 Annual Energy Outlook. Whenever your optimism on the prospects for U.S. energy infrastructure waivers, this will restore your confidence. The outlook for domestic energy production is bullish, and in many cases more so than a year ago.
For example, in their 2018 report, the EIA’s Reference Case projected that the U.S. would eventually become a net energy exporter. Now, thanks to stronger crude and liquids production, they expect that milestone to be reached next year.
—“American Energy Independence Is Imminent,” Forbes.
But wouldn’t a more permanent independence, one free from the ups and downs of petroleum import-export balance sheets, be better? Of course it would. And pursuing an energy independence that focuses on renewable energy rather than fossil fuels would have other advantages as well: the improved health of the country and the planet, increased revenues from an American clean energy economy, job creation, the technological trickle-down effect resulting from green R&D, a renewed sense of moral leadership . . .
Sounds pretty great, right? Well if we want it, we can have it. All we’ve got to do is stand up and let our natural national independent streak shine.