By Joe Petrowski
Real leaders look forward not backward, and whether Iraq turmoil today is the Republicans’ fault for invading and toppling a secular Sunni leader or the current administration’s squandering of the achievement is immaterial. What do we do now? Boots on the ground or the false hope of “costless” air power are not the solutions.
We have spent too much treasure and blood, and becoming the “Shia Air Force” and advancing Iran’s interest is not in the U.S. interest. This 3,000-year-old civil war is not subject to coalition building or a charm offensive. The fight today is not about the rightful successor to Mohammad, but about who controls approximately $500 billion of oil revenue to wage jihad and build the caliphate. Either a Shia or Sunni caliphate is bad for America. The 9/11 terrorists were Sunni , and Iran’s record on terrorism is well established. The Mideast is a tumor and the least invasive way to kill a tumor is cut off the blood supply.
Oil revenue is that blood. Oil prices would be much higher today if the United States had not dropped its consumption of energy to 97 Quads while domestic production, primarily from shale, has increased to 82 quads (a quad is a quadrillion BTUs and a barrel of oil contains 58,00 BTU’s). We will truly be independent when the current ratio of 85% crosses to over 100%. And with the scheduled closure of coal plants (19 quads) and nuclear’s future (9 quads) uncertain, our dependence may get worse and not better in the interim. What should our leadership do?
- Continue drilling for natural gas–our 28 quads can be doubled in next five years.
- Renew the investment tax credit in solar (.5 quads can be 5 quads in five years as panel and installation costs are falling.
- Some 1.5 quads in wind can easily triple in next five years with investment in the smart grid, which will have the added benefit of saving 10 quads in power transmission.
- Stop the attack on ethanol. It is currently $1 gallon cheaper than gasoline and supplies 10 quads, and with some legislation on tank and engine liability we can easily add 5 quads of energy.
- Invest in pipelines and replace old cast iron nat gas pipes where we lose more methane than in fracking.
- Encourage small CHP (combined heat and power projects), that will have an ancillary benefit of eliminating power line loss and securing our energy supplies from catastrophic events whether man made (cyber-attacks, terrorism) or nature (hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, solar flare).
- Incent the new hydrogen fuel cell technology relying on water and natural gas to produce hydrogen fuel that is cheap, clean and efficient.
Our stated national goal should be to be a net energy exporter where mischief and black swan events actually would help the United States and the dollar relative to the rest of the world, and drive the price of petroleum under $75/barrel starving whatever beast survives the Mideast insanity.
The lower energy prices from enacting the above would:
- Stimulate our economy
- Hurt Putin’s Russia
- Drain the Mideast swamp
- Create jobs and new industries
- Help diffuse the next powder ked (China’s covetous desire in East Asia for the shale and oil fields off of Taiwan, Japan and Vietnam)\
We can support Jordan, Israel and the Kurds while protecting Americans. We do not need military action, but rather leadership and forward-looking strategic thinking.
You cannot reason with evil; it must be destroyed.
I am sure there will be some on both sides of the aisle that will find fault with some of the above, but maybe Senator Kerry can come home and bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans before we try and settle a 3,000 year old blood feud between irrational evil doers.
We do not have a shortage of energy, just leadership, courage and a plan.
Joe Petrowski has had a long career in international commodity trading, energy and retail management and public policy development. In 2005, he was named President and CEO of Gulf Oil LP and elected to the Gulf Oil LP Board of Directors. In October of 2008 he was named CEO of the now combined Gulf Oil and Cumberland Farms whose annual revenues exceed $11 billion and that now operates in 27 states. In September 2013, Petrowski stepped down as CEO of The Cumberland Gulf Group. He is now managing director of Mercantor Partners, a private equity firm investing in convenience and energy distribution.
