Lugar the Magnificent Performs a Fuel Trick February 16, 2006; Page A17
Sen. Richard Lugar asserts ("Are Alternatives to Fossil Fuels Really Viable?1" Letters to the Editor, Feb. 13) that "external costs" make fossil fuels "far more expensive" than the $2.50-a-gallon price at the pump reveals. He then proceeds to shuffle barrels and gallons, billions and cents, with the skill of a deft magician performing a card trick.
He points first to the estimated $50 billion a year we spend safeguarding the Mideast oil fields. Those billions of dollars, however, secure the annual flow of about seven billion barrels of Mideast oil -- i.e., 300 billion gallons -- to Japan, Europe, other U.S. allies and (last and least) the United States. So here, at least, Sen. Lugar's "far more" means about 15 cents a gallon.
"The world's overreliance on petroleum," Sen. Lugar adds, enriches some nasty people. It does indeed. At $50 per barrel of crude, feudal theocracies festering with hate are sitting on $30 trillion. But to cut that terrifying total in half, the world (not just the U.S.) needs alternatives that cut in half the global price of crude. Sen. Lugar says ethanol "will soon be commercially competitive with $2.50 gas." But $50 a barrel is $1.20 a gallon, so at the end of the day, the target price point is about 60 cents a gallon. And to have a serious impact on global price, the world will need to produce alternative fuels in volumes comparable to the 30 billion barrels of oil currently produced -- 10 billion barrels a year, say. Coal, tar sands, natural gas and uranium can readily supply that much energy, at that kind of price -- they already do, and can clearly continue doing so for centuries to come. No serious student of energy markets believes that cellulosic ethanol can come anywhere close.
Peter Huber Bethesda, Md.
Sen. Lugar appears to have undergone a political transformation. His letter repeats the Democratic Party environmental mantras. He appears to have bought into the left-wing idea that the Iraq war was "all about oil." This assertion is ridiculous on its face -- the idea that the U.S. government has any real control over the source of crude oil that private companies import into the U.S. is laughable. Oil is fungible, just like money. If Iraq oil was being sold into other countries than the U.S., then oil would come here from other locations, such as Asia and South America.
He misrepresents the opinion of the National Defense Council Foundation by claiming that it endorses his view of using our military to secure Middle East oil -- the NDCF says no such thing. Finally, he regurgitates the line of ADM and other ethanol producers that they have the answer -- if we will only subsidize it with tax dollars.
Roger F. Jones Broomall, Pa.
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