Some 15 years or so ago, when the tidy, white-washed residents of the US East Coast made it plain that their desire for an unending energy supply did not include anything so base as oil and gas exploration off their shores, some enterprising soul created a bumper sticker. It said, "Let the b#@&*%^s freeze in the dark." Those are pretty harsh sentiments I suppose, but I did not, and do not, know many people in the industry who did not agree with the sticker. And now, the "not in my backyard" group has struck again. And, once again, they have shot themselves in the foot. I am talking, of course, about the dilettantish, squeaky-clean-to-the-point-of-mortal-boredom California special interest groups. What they have done is bring the state of California to one of its most critical junctures. Electricity is in short supply. No less than 34 days of rolling blackouts are predicted for this summer. High energy prices, on the back of high gas prices, have been among the groups' whipping boys.
But the do-gooders are the culprits. In order to ensure that voracious California consumers had enough electricity, the special interest groups forced deregulation of the California electricity industry early in the past decade, reasoning that more competition would bring down energy prices and keep them in check. That is not an unreasonable assumption. But at the same time, the self-appointed good Samaritans, forced through a legal block that would not allow electricity companies to pass increased costs to the consumer - including the increased cost of gas. No rocket science is required here. Major electric suppliers, operating on lowered margins, have been forced into bankruptcy. The state of California must now bail them out. And, oh yes, there will be rate hikes to California consumers - big ones.
But that is not the entire story. The self-anointed saviors of the environment have put a halt to power plant construction in California. Prices aside, there simply is not enough local generating capacity to satisfy the state's appetite for electricity. What a shame that once again, self-styled guardians of our heritage have forced part of the nation into a dreadful situation. The message is clear - there is no free ride. If you, or I, or anyone else wants to consume a product in unlimited quantities at bargain basement prices, you, I or anyone must be willing to bear the cost of producing that product. The cost - environmental or financial - cannot be laid off on someone else indefinitely. To attempt to do so is irrational and the height of cynicism - not that the groups that continue to espouse these ideas do not fit into both categories.
Two old sayings apply here. I think it was Mark Twain who said, "When you encounter someone out to do you good, run as fast as you can." And it was my mother who first said to me, "You can't have your cake and eat it too." With my apologies to all right-thinking Californians - and there are many - I propose another bumper sticker. "Let the b#@&*%^s swelter in paradise."
That brings me to another favorite topic. When it is consumers who clearly drive the demand for oil and gas, why is it that the oil and gas producers are portrayed as the villains? Worldwide, demand for all types of fuel continues to rise. There is no sign that this groundswell will abate. Yet oil and gas companies are blamed for all types of environmental plights, from the greenhouse phenomenon to pollution at sea. It appears to me that voracious consumers worldwide are to blame. I do not know any industry, including the oil and gas industry, that would willingly keep producing a product for which there is little demand.
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