The energy debate is heating up during these long, cold weeks of North American winters. Which makes more sense for today and the future: so-called “renewable resources” or “fossil fuels”?
Manufacturers have encouraged the development of oil and natural gas resources and pipeline construction not just because it creates jobs and generates state and local revenue, but because it provides Americans with an abundance of resources used to fuel our nation’s economy.
The U.S. is likely to overtake Russia to become the world’s largest oil producer by 2023, accounting for most of the global growth in petroleum supplies, the International Energy Agency said last year.
How important is this development to the U.S. and the Earth’s future? Shopfloor.org’s Andrew Clark writes:
Manufacturers use one-third of the energy consumed in this country and depend on a secure, affordable, reliable mix of energy resources to remain competitive. There are encouraging signs on the horizon that the incredible growth we’ve seen over the past decade will continue. The administration’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) plan is a positive step in opening additional areas for offshore safe oil and natural gas leasing. Energy manufacturers like Exxon Mobil and BP have announced billions of dollars of investments in the U.S. in the coming years due to a friendly regulatory environment and tax reform (Exxon recently announced it will invest $2 billion in west Texas to triple production in the Permian Basin by 2020).
http://www.shopfloor.org/2019/01/report-u-s-will-worlds-largest-oil-producer-2023h
But at the same time, a growing number of state leaders are embracing the U.S. Climate Alliance and its goals for maximizing renewable energy while phasing out oil and natural gas production.
All this leads to the question, “Should the U.S. seek to become the world’s largest oil producer in the next five years?”
Last summer, Texas was on the cusp of breaking oil production records. In June, crude oil production reached 4.3 million barrels per day, putting Texas on track to “shatter” the previous record of 1.263 billion barrels in 1972.
“We’re going to blow that record out of the water,” Karr Ingham, Texas oil economist and creator of the Texas Petro Index (TPI), said during a mid-year briefing in Houston back in July. “Both crude and natural gas production will easily set new annual production records in 2018.”
The energy discussion is indeed heating up, as each point of view demands public policy reflect their viewpoints. It remains to see if . a mix of each ultimately wins out for the sake of current manufacturing and future technology.