By now I would assume most Americans have learned about the newly discovered energy reserves in the United States. I see this as one of the most amazing developments of my lifetime. Since I was a kid I’ve been hearing about how some day we’re going to run out of oil. Well, the people saying that will now have to find a way to make a living in some other area of the sky-is-falling business.
Nevertheless, this amazing new reality doesn’t guarantee that our political leaders won’t find a way to screw it up. The political left, of course, would prefer to leave the oil (et al) in the ground and run everything on wind power.
RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) would love to tap those resources and use the revenues to the federal treasury as an excuse to not cut spending. “Hey, we can afford big government now,” the say, “and we still need not worry about the country’s cultural decline!”
Conservatives like me would drill baby drill and use the revenues to pay down the incredibly irresponsible and immoral debt that’s been built up even as we slash the size of government. I’m also guessing that I’m not alone in seeing this new energy reality as God answering those who have been praying for the country. I’ve never seen a second chance play out in such a dramatic way.
Here are two recent news items about the energy discoveries. The first is from hotair.com and the second is a National Center for Policy Analysis summary of an Investor’s Business Daily report. Enjoy.
In the American west: An ocean of oil
An auditor from the GAO testified before the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment on the subject of energy. But instead of hearing about how horrible things are, she calmly delivered something of a bombshell.
“The Green River Formation–an assemblage of over 1,000 feet of sedimentary rocks that lie beneath parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming–contains the world’s largest deposits of oil shale,”Anu K. Mittal, the GAO’s director of natural resources and environment said in written testimony submitted to the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
“USGS estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and economic conditions,” Mittal testified.
“The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, estimates that 30 to 60 percent of the oil shale in the Green River Formation can be recovered,” Mittal told the subcommittee. “At the midpoint of this estimate, almost half of the 3 trillion barrels of oil would be recoverable. This is an amount about equal to the entire world’s proven oil reserves.”
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Oil Production: United States Is Capable of Out-Producing World
Focusing on the Green River Formation in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, Government Accountability Office Director of Natural Resources and Environment Anu Mittal told Congress recently that just one small part of the United States is capable of out-producing the rest of the planet.
- The Green River Formation has been dubbed America’s Persia on the Plains — an area with recoverable oil in an amount estimated at four times the proven resources of Saudi Arabia.
- Given the current U.S. daily oil consumption of 19.5 million barrels, the staggering amount of Green River reserves would by itself supply domestic oil consumption for more than 200 years.
- The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil.
- The Rand Corporation estimates that 30 percent to 60 percent of this oil can be recovered.
- Seventy-two percent of the oil shale within the Green River Formation lies beneath federal lands managed by BLM, meaning that the government holds the reins to the oil’s extraction.
Source: “GAO to Obama: More Oil than Rest of the World,” Investor’s Business Daily, May 14, 2012. Anu K. Mittal, “Unconventional Oil and Gas Production: Opportunities and Challenges of Oil Shale Development,” Government Accountability Office, May 10, 2012.
