Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The Energy Non-Crisis by Lindsey Williams ( my review)

I learned of this book from an e-mail received which contained a video on this subject. It was intriguing enough for me to order a book from Amazon.com. I have just completed reading and now wish to share with others.
He is an ordained Baptist minister and an Alaskan. When the pipe line was just starting to be built in 1974 he requested and was eventually allowed to provide spiritual comfort and guidance to the men and women working on the project. He was not paid but was given executive status which allowed him to be privy to discussions by the oil men and to visit all sections of the construction areas. He does not profess knowledge of the oil business but in his mind was able to glean insight into the process.
Much of it tells of the hardships encountered and the roadblocks continually put in the way which impeded progress and inflated the original cost from an estimated $600 million to over $12 billion. The entire cost was borne by the consortium of oil companies called Alyeska. Specific instances to make his point were;
The detour of the road to Prudhoe Bay was stopped by the ecologists because of a nest of falcons. This would have delayed construction by a month so a by-pass was build at a cost of $2 million.
Toilets were provided at a cost of $10,000 each for remote locations. Refuse was incinerated rather than being disposed of by burying, all in the interest of protecting the tundra.
Permits were required for seemingly all aspects. Once granted some were withdrawn causing expensive delays until re-instated.
Fines of $10,000 or more were written for the smallest of incidences which made no sense to the author.
There were also problems with the unions. As an example he mentioned the need to replace a screw for a toilet paper dispenser. A carpenter, metal worker and laborer all refused on the grounds it was the work of a different craft. Eventually it was resolved by sending all three back together. Mr. Williams calculated the cost at $375.
All of the above were examples of the obstacles needed to be overcome by the oil companies as they fought the Federal and State Governments, unions, environmentalists and public opinion.
As the pipe line was nearing completion the government increased pressure by insisting the welds be re-inspected at enormous cost and placing additional burdens which the author felt were designed to keep delaying completion. It was as if our government leaders did not want the relief this additional oil could provide.
The above I found interesting but the major issue, if there is any credence in his writings, is his claim that our government since this project was started in the early seventies has kept free enterprise from doing its job of providing energy for America. He contends that there is oil on the North Slope exceeding that of Saudi Arabia. He mentions a find equal or greater than the pool presently providing 2 million barrels per day and that it could be easily extracted with minimal disruption to the environment or wildlife. This is at a location called Gull Island which is just off the shore at Prudhoe Bay. After discovery it was ordered to be capped off, not to be pursued. There is also the matter that natural gas by the trillions of cubic feet is returned to the ground instead of building a pipeline next to the current one and sending to America. He states that there are sufficient reserves to serve America for the next 200 years. He claims it could be completed in six months. I sincerely doubt the time schedule but not the fact that this gas could and should be used by America particularly now with costs going thru the roof effecting all households and business. All of this occurred during the presidency of Jimmie Carter. He opted for the more expensive option of a 3,000 mile pipeline thru Canada instead of 800 miles to Valdez. The great expense was more than the oil companies were willing to spend so to this day the gas is not being provided to America.
Those of you receiving this book review know that I am an envirmentalist and defender of wildlife and also that I believe in global warming. That being stated, I am also a realist. If, by using these resources which are in America,, we could eliminate sending exorbitant funds to OPEC which find there way to support terrorist cells, then we could at least diminish the loss of lives of our troops in this area of the world which is only of value because of their oil resources. The money saved could expand research into alternate forms of energy and speed up the timetable of reducing our carbon footprint.
Why an issue as important as this does not receive news coverage can be due to the fact that what he claims is bogus or everyone’s negative feelings toward the oil industry or collusion on the part of news organizations with federal officials or something else. It does seem strange that if there was truth to what he claims that Congress hasn’t acted. He experienced these events over 30 years ago. I am requesting that those interested receiving a copy of this letter check your own sources to see if there is a smoking gun here. I am also requesting that some of you take the time to listen to his speech. It lasts nearly one hour. He is persuasive. Go to; Http://video.google.Com/videoplay?docid=3340274697167011147
After completing my book report I was prompted to search further for answers. I first went to Snopes.com. I entered North Slope Oil and found that while at first oil was shipped to Japan that now all goes to the U.S. with current production down to 720,000 Barrels/day from the original 2, million as Mr. Williams reported. Then I went to Google, again asking about North Slope Oil. There were over 100 articles to read. According to these reports the initial estimate for the pipe line was $900 million with a final cost of $7.7 billion. Mr. Williams had said $600 million and $12 billion. Regardless the cost was far greater than expected due I am sure to some of the points he raised. Other interesting information I gleaned;
For three decades the North Slope has produced 20% of domestic oil production in the U.S.
Taxation has produced $50 billion in 25 years.
In 1999 production fell to 850,000 barrels/day. It is projected that useful flows will continue for another 40 years if other sources are not discovered and put into production.
Vice President Spiral Agnew cast the deciding vote in the Senate in 1973 which authorized the construction of the pipe line. Score one for the Republicans on this one.
In an article called, “Sizing up oil in Alaska’s North Slope,” it was stated that currently 35 trillion cu. Ft of gas is available and that 50 billion barrels of oil and 200 trillion cu. ft of gas are in undiscovered deposits.
The U.S. consumes 22 trillion cu. ft. per year. Mr. Williams’s claim that the North Slope would take care of our needs for 200 years is off the chart.
To this day leases are being granted with some results.
I could find no reference to Gull Island but his claim is inconsistent with the fact that leases continue to be granted. The gas pipeline has not been constructed due to its high cost on the route chosen across Canada. I believe Mr. Williams was right on this one. The much shorter route paralleling the current oil line if approved would get the gas to us whereas it may never happen as currently planned.
I found this exercise to be extremely interesting. I will not explore further unless spurred on by some of you.


Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 27, 2008
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Universal Health Care

Knowing that many countries provide health care to all citizens, this has been an issue I have pondered for some time. Last weekend I had an accident that raised my awareness due to my personal experience. On a hike I was leading, I slipped and in the process dislocated my right shoulder. It was extremely painful. Due to the distance from Tucson and other factors it took about five hours before I could be attended to. I have never experienced pain of this magnitude. I have insurance coverage by Medicare and my company so there was no financial concern. I was given excellent and thorough care. Had I been one of the reported 45 million other American citizens without coverage I can only imagine the financial tragedy that might entail. They would have been given the service but when the bills came due it could be devastating for them.
The companies in America pay most of the health care for employees and as in my case for retirees who are not contributing in producing goods and services as they once did. Our foreign competitors do not. How can they possibly compete with this albatross on their necks?
Those who refer to universal health care as being free are of course not correct. Nothing in life is free, but I do believe if the insurance companies need for profit was removed huge amounts could be removed from the process. Care not profit should be the goal. The current health provider companies could still handle paperwork required but the screening process to deny care would be removed. If I could make the decision, I would just expand the current Medicare program to cover all. Patients should be free to choose their doctor or hospital. The best doctors and hospitals would get the highest traffic. This competition should be an incentive to provide the best service. All bills to be paid by the Federal Government. Those with means would be free to add to this as their assets allowed.
Sadly none of the candidates for president will consider my suggestion. They will just tinker with the present profit motivated companies and if others are covered the cost will be astronautically huge.

Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 25, 2008
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

Friday, May 9, 2008

A book review- The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

I have just finished reading this book. I felt I should since he is nearing his goal of receiving the required delegates to win the nomination as the Democratic Party’s candidate for President of the United States. Prior to this I read a book about Hillary Clinton and also two books written by John McCain the Republican candidate for the highest office.
I have been debating with myself on whether I should attempt to produce a review of the contents. Whatever thoughts that do emerge will probably not do justice to the author. He wrote about himself and his life history to date. He also describes in great detail the life of an elected official including his current position as Senator from the State of Illinois. He expresses anguish over the time spent away from his wife and his two daughters. There can be no doubt about the demands for his time particularly at this time while running for this new office. As sympathetic as I should be, at the same time I believe that when you aspire for lofty positions then you need to sacrifice all other interests in pursuing to the best of your ability the work before you that is important to your constituents.
There are chapters describing the differences between the two major parties, the Constitution, values, politics, opportunity, faith, race, family and the world beyond our borders. He is articulate and shows his intellect. There is a lot of detail to cover each subject. I tried my best to be interested but no matter how factual his writings might be I just couldn’t, as I have with other political books I have read in recent years. After reading a few pages I found myself nodding off at which time I would put it down and do something else. I am really sorry to say this as I deeply admire the man and believe he could be the one to rekindle the spirits of Americans. Either my age is showing or I have saturated my brain with this stuff and it is rebelling. I will say this, I found him making many of the same points I did in my last book. To that end I am more in tune with his hopes and dreams than the other two. Those of you receiving this review I would hope would make the effort to read. Perhaps you are better equipped to read heavy material as is contained therein.
Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 5, 2008
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

It doesn't make "cents" to me

Our great and wonderful congress is pushing through legislation to resolve the problem that it costs more to make pennies and nickels than the face value of the coin. The value of copper and zinc is the problem they are addressing. A penny costs 1.2 cents and a nickel costs 7.7 cents. The proposal is to change the content to steel with a copper coating. If enacted a savings of over $100 million will be realized. While this is a solution, a far better solution is to stop minting pennies and nickels all together. The effect of inflation over the years has made their use impractical. All merchants would need to do is round up the cost of a product to the nearest dime. I am sure if this was done savings approaching $1 billion could be realized. The cost of the raw materials and cost of minting are huge.
Why do they continue to resist? Do they think Americans would be outraged at the loss of these nuisance coins? Are they afraid to admit that reckless spending policies over many decades have reduced the value of our currency? Coin collectors can amuse themselves for centuries until such time as they become extinct.
This is just another of my simplistic solutions to our many problems. I felt I had to write about it.

Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 9, 2008
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

Thursday, May 8, 2008

1 cent Arizona sales tax proposal

Governor Janet Napolitano calls for an increase of 1 cent in the State sales tax

This is her idea to fund transit improvements. She and most all political incumbents either state or federal refuse to take the proper course of action. Raising the gas tax on the state and federal levels would accomplish three things. The higher cost would force auto manufacturers to find ways to increase mileage, would fund the transportation system by the users and help slow down global warming. I realize that this would be unpopular especially now with the cost so high. I have always believed that the beneficiaries of a service should be the ones to pay. If I had had my way we would have started gradually raising the gas tax 30 years ago to levels comparable with Europe. Had we done so we would not be in crisis mode as we now find ourselves.

Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 8, 2008
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

I cent Arizona sales tax proposal

Thursday, May 1, 2008

One Billion in Military Aid to Mexico

This letter was sent to Representative Gabriel Giffords

President Bush is demanding the Congress approve $1 billion to provide military weapons and training for Mexico’s military to better fight the drug cartels. You must toughen up and defy your Democratic leadership and vote against this demand. Enough is enough. We continue to flood many Central and South American countries with armament supposedly to combat drug dealers. Do you recall the Iran-Contra fiasco, the School of America training thugs who killed many poor peasants in San Salvador? The drug problem will never be solved by military might only by providing assistance here in this country to wean users from their addiction. Spend the money here not there.
Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
May 1, 2008
jackbwalters@yahoo.com