Set America Free Notes&Comments

Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice, testifying in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week:

“We do have to do something about the energy problem. I can tell you that nothing has really taken me aback more, as Secretary of State, than the way that the politics of energy is — I will use the word ‘warping’ diplomacy around the world. It has given extraordinary power to some states that are using that power in not very good ways for the international system, states that would otherwise have very little power. It is sending some states that are growing very rapidly in an all-out search for energy — states like China, states like India — that is really sending them into parts of the world where they’ve not been seen before, and challenging, I think, for our diplomacy.”

A recent ExxonMobil ad makes an excellent point:

“America has made progress since the 1970s ?energy shock?. The U.S. economy today is nearly 50 percent more energy-efficient than 30 years ago. Every form of transportation ? planes, trains and automobiles ? now benefits from improved fuels an engine systems.

“So why is it that despite this overall progress, the average fuel economy of American cars is unchanged in two decades?

“It?s because underlying engine efficiency gains have been largely offset by the increasing weight of vehicles, reflecting a growing share of the market moving to light trucks and sport utility vehicles.”

Indeed.

You can read a Chrysler spokesman’s response yourself. His basic point is that “greed by the big oil companies” is to blame for high gas prices. Hm.

Let’s set the record straight. Oil prices are dynamically determined in a global market. Iinternational oil companies, such as Exxon, Shell, BP, etc, own about 6% of world oil reserves and have access to under 25% of world reserves. Most oil reserves are controlled by governments that severely limit or even forbid foreign access to their fields (e.g. Saudi Aramco, controlled by the al-Saud family, owns about a quarter of the world’s oil reserves). In other words, international oil companies have very little control over the global oil market, especially today, when any bad guy with a bomb can send prices soaring. In an age of increasing terrorism against oil infrastructure, and instability in oil producing countries, high oil prices are here to stay. Auto companies that don’t want to get their clocks cleaned by more nimble competitors should take heed of that fact and adjust their product lines accordingly.

Watch Cong. Jack Kingston (R-GA) urge his colleagues to cosponsor HR4409, The Fuel Choices for American Security Act, the bipartisan bill he introduced together with Cong. Eliot Engel (D-NY) to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Is your Representative on board yet?

…for becoming a cosponsor of S.2025, The Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security Act, based on the Set America Free blueprint for energy security. Is your Senator on board yet?

The WSJ features a tip of the week today titled “Tweak Car, Save on Gas” summarizing tips from the DOE’s fuel economy guide.

We’ve been posting tips on what you as an individual can do to reduce your oil use – please do your part! Today’s tip: Replacing a clogged air filter can improve your car’s gas mileage by as much as 10% – that’s over 5 weeks worth of saved fuel a year.

Landscaping your home for energy efficiency can reduce your home heating and cooling bills. Some tips from the DOE.

Terrorists know what they are doing when they target oil. In oil, as in other aspects, they take advantage of our free and open system to do us harm. From today’s WSJ:

“In September 2004, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, a delta warlord whom the Nigerian government had accused of oil smuggling, declared ‘all out war’ on the government. Annkio Briggs, a senior aide to Mr. Asari at the time, says the warlord’s comments were carefully crafted and timed to move global prices. Carried by news agencies, the remarks helped push New York futures prices above $50 a barrel for the first time.

“‘We were aware of the price of oil, and we were aware that it was dependent on supply and demand, and we were aware that supplies had to be stable,’ says Ms. Briggs in an interview. ‘We looked around at other countries that were big producers, and we could see anytime there was a crisis the price of oil would go up, so it didn’t take a lot of intelligence or mathematics to figure it out.’”

Gal Luft and Anne Korin wrote about this way back in December 2003 in the Journal of International Security Affairs: Terror’s Next Target.

AP: “Venezuelans threw eggs and fruit at the U.S. ambassador’s car Friday, and motorcyclists chased his convoy for miles, at times pounding on the vehicles [...] Venezuelan police escorts did not intervene as a car carrying Ambassador William Brownfield was pounded and pelted. No one was hurt.

‘We’re being attacked by groups of motorcyclists while we’re traveling in an embassy car,’ Penn said by cell phone during the chase. ‘It’s a very violent demonstration by a small group of people who appear to be organized by the mayor’s office.’”

Venezuela is one of the top oil suppliers to the U.S.

UPDATE: BBC reports that Chavez has told the US ambassador “start packing” before he “kicks him out”, saying in a nationally televised speech “I’m going to throw you out of Venezuela if you continue provoking the Venezuelan people.” Chavez said Ambassador Brownfield was partially responsible for the incident because he failed to advise the local authorities or the foreign ministry of his travel plans. Mr Brownfield was visiting a low-income neighbourhood in Caracas to donate baseball equipment to underprivileged children.

Some great tips from our neighbors up north, on how to keep your tires from draining your fuel tank. Properly inflated and aligned tires can reduce your fuel consumption by 4% – that’s two weeks of driving a year!

Watch our 1-minute video clip –
Do your part: pump it up!

UPDATE: The National Academies’ Transportation Research Board just issued a study titled “Tires and Passenger Vehicle Fuel Economy”, conducted at the request of Congress with funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Bottom line finding: better replacement tires, that reduce rolling resistance by 10%, would improve gas mileage by 1 to 2 percent and save about 1 billion to 2 billion gallons of fuel per year – that’s equivalent to the fuel that would be saved by taking 2 million to 4 million cars and light trucks off the road. The study’s bottom line recommendation: Label tires for fuel efficiency so consumers can make smart decisions.

Glad to report that critical oil savings legislation now in front of both the House and Senate includes a provision to label replacement tires so consumers can tell how they would affect gas mileage.

To read key excerpts of the report, click More.
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A Set America Free red white and blue cheer to Rep Gallegly, Elton [CA-24], Rep Kuhl, John R. “Randy”, Jr. [NY-29], Rep Beauprez, Bob [CO-7], Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [OR-4] and Rep Harman, Jane [CA-36] for becoming cosponsors of HR. 4409 The Fuel Choices for American Security Act!
Is your Representative on board?