13-03-06
The former director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said that
means turning to a resource that doesn't demand a complete overhaul of the
existing infrastructure and is relatively inexpensive.
"If we focus on utilizing the existing infrastructure and inexpensive feedstocks,
where do we end up? In a place like Spokane," he said.
Woolsey, featured speaker at sixth annual Harvesting Clean Energy Conference,
said by concentrating on the things that already work, like ethanol and
biodiesel, America can dramatically reduce its reliance on foreign oil.
That does not make him a fan of just any energy alternative. He said he doesn't
believe the automotive fuel cell technology should be pursued because it would
involve a wholesale infrastructure replacement.
Although some question whether US cropland can grow enough energy to make a
difference to America's huge appetite, Woolsey believes it's doable -- if
average automobile gas mileage standards can be improved to what Europe (42
miles per gallon) and Japan (47 mpg) already have.
"With these assumptions, we can replace half the country's gasoline" with about
30 mm acres, he said. Woolsey, who was director of the CIA in the Clinton
administration from 1993 to 1995, is co-chairman of the Committee on the Present
Danger. He is also chairman of the Advisory Board of the Clean Fuels Foundation
and serves on the National Commission on Energy Policy.
Woolsey presented a world view that is precarious in the extreme. A single
blow, like the attack on an oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia, could cause
the energy balance to come crashing down. If the terrorists had not been
thwarted, they would have knocked out the sulphur clearing towers for
three-quarters of the Saudi country's oil exports.
"That puts about 6 mm barrels (a day) off line for well over a year and sends
prices -- I don't know how high, but well over $ 100 a barrel," he said.
Meanwhile, he said, much of the money that is used to purchase Saudi oil is
funnelled to the Wahabis, the country's majority religious sect whose views are,
"for all practical purposes, identical with al Qaeda" and explicitly genocidal
with respects to Shiite Muslims, Jews and homosexuals. President's Bush's
characterization of various groups as Islamo-fascists is not strong enough, he
said.
"We are dealing more with Islamo-Nazis."
And then there is Iran. Woolsey said that country, which exports 4 mm barrels
of oil a day, is headed by a genocidal fanatic who looks forward to the end of
the world. Efforts to slow down the country's nuclear program, meanwhile, have
brought threats of curtailing oil exports.
Woolsey said references to the war on terror have changed recently. It is now
being called "the long war," and some believe it will be a conflict like the
Cold War, which continued for decades.
"And it's the first war we've ever fought that the US government pays for
both sides. We pay for our GIs and Marines to fight through Fallujah, we pay for
our CIA and FBI to fight terrorism and make arrests, and we try to increase the
resiliency of our home society. And then we pull into the pump and we pay for
petroleum products," he said.
"You want to know who's paying for it? The next time you turn into the filling
station, reach up to that rear-view mirror and just turn it a little bit."
Woolsey said oil is unlike any other commodity because Americans are 99 %
locked into it for transportation and there is virtually no substitutability
over time. When something happens that sends oil over $ 100 a barrel,
transportation has to bear it.
"This is not just a matter of costs for corporations. This is elderly people on
pensions who are going to have to choose between filling the gas tank and going
out to dinner in the evening. This is young families who have moved out some
distance from town so they can have a house with a yard and are going to have to
choose between essential things and getting the gas tank filled," he said.
Woolsey said the current administration is focused too much on research and
development to solve the nation's energy woes. He believes the answers are right
in front of us.
"The Wright Brothers flew a long time ago. We don't need a Manhattan Project.
With respect to cellulosic ethanol, every cow you know can break down cellulose
to sugar," he said.
Source: www.capitalpress.com.