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Sunday, June 22, 2008
Blame it all on the greenies …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Environmentalists are the designated bad guy in the Republican energy narrative. Whatever the problem, environmentalists caused it.
If nuclear power plants aren’t being built, it’s not because they are hugely expensive and a big risk for investors, it’s the fault of environmentalists. If we have to import a lot of oil from overseas, it’s because environmentalists have barred us from drilling in ANWR, even though drilling in ANWR would do little to move us toward energy independence and nothing to alter the price of gasoline.
The same argument is applied to refining. If no new refineries have been built in this country since the 1970s, it’s once again because of the environmentalists.
Except that once again, it isn’t. It’s supply and demand - pure economics, a process that conservatives profess to worship. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the government’s technical energy analysts, new refineries haven’t been built because there simply isn’t much money in it, and investors can get a bigger return elsewhere.
Look at the most recent profit statements from Chevron, the nation’s second biggest oil company. In the first quarter it reported profits of more than $5 billion worldwide. Its profit from U.S. refineries? A paltry $4 million.
People in the oil business know that, which is why you rarely hear that argument coming from industry types. They’d be too embarrassed to utter such nonsense. But they’re more than willing to sit back and let irresponsible politicians blame it all on environmentalists.
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