No Love for Big Oil

No Love for Big Oil

 
July 23, 2010
Americans and the rest of the world aren’t feeling necessarily lovey dovey with Big Oil these days. In a recent poll, Big Oil rated dead last out of 24 industries. And with Big Oil getting ready to report record profits next week, nobody in Big Oil is feeling the love. Who can forget ExxonMobil’s 2008 revenues of $442B (more than a $1B a day USD)? BP’s 2010 first quarter revenues were $18B.
John Hofmeister doesn’t let up on Big Oil in his new book Why We Hate Big Oil Companies. He should know; he used to be president of Shell Oil Company USA. Hofmeister left Shell oil in 2008 and currently heads up a consumer information firm, Citizens for Affordable Energy based in Houston.
The first eleven chapters tell us in strikingly candid details about how were got here in the first place, the fallacy of energy independence, the foibles in the free market, the parochial oil industry, energy and politics don’t mix. Finally in Chapter 12 we get to Hofmeister’s recommendation: Establish a new all powerful regulatory agency called the Federal Energy Resources Board. Citing examples of the current Obama administration (and those that precede him) failed to improve the energy crisis in the U.S. The Federal Energy Resource Board would replicate part of the Environmental Protection Agency (he wants to depoliticize the EPA-and yet base the new agency in Washington DC). And there is no mention of the Department of Energy or the Department of Interior.
Take for example:
• Right from the start on page 34, he says: “What we (Americans) are short on is a coherent, pragmatic energy policy.”
• Page 46-the section on The Issue of Subsidies(one of my favorite topics)
• “Our future economy, well-being and security are increasingly at risk by the day, month, and year that we fail to educate the (American) people about all aspects of energy and the environment.” On page 93.
Even with the recent announcement of Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell creating a one billion dollar joint venture to provide emergency funding for offshore disasters. This isn’t likely to earn many points with Mr. and Mrs. America.
Hofmeister does have some good ideas. His impassioned call to action to the American public is well defined, timely and on target. His analysis from inside the “oil patch” provides new (to most of us) information on how we got into this energy crisis in the first place.
The final point being: wake up America! Now is the time for action. Ten years from now is too late. Our children and our grand children deserve better. It’s time to stick our oar in the water and start paddling. That playful little wave you see in the distance will soon turn out to be the energy tsunami of the 21st century.