Posted 06.10.2010
Disasters and reality
Boycott oil? Are you serious?
By Martha YoungHave you received emails asking you to boycott BP due to the Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico accident? I am getting inundated with them. They are amazingly shrill and vitriolic. The most recent one, received this morning, is demanding a boycott on oil. Excuse me? Do you have any idea what that would mean? Let's take a look:
- Oil is used in the tires for your bike and car.
- Oil is used in the plastic bags in the produce section of the grocery store.
- Oil is used in many bath and body care products.
- Oil is used to heat your home.
- Oil is used to lubricate motors so think about your refrigerator, dish and clothes washers, and air conditioner. Are you ready to give them up?
- Oil is used to surface the roads.
Crude oil is a significant raw material in the chemical industry. In fact, according to Microsoft's Encarta, more crude oil is used in the chemical industry than for mobility. The chemical industry includes fertilizers as well as medicines. Mobility includes boats, planes, trucks, trains, buses, cars, and even bicycles.
Petroleum and its derivatives are used in the manufacture of medicines; foods; plastics including coolers, jugs, and plastic ware; building materials; paints; and clothing (this is what "spun synthetics" are based on).
With the wide variety of uses of crude oil is it reasonable, or even possible, to ask people to boycott oil? The answer is a resounding no.
Can you cut back on your personal use of oil and oil based products? Definitely. Some cut backs are easier to make than others. Every cut back helps reduce the overall demand for crude oil. One of the easiest practices to institute is to use cloth bags when shopping. The change does not impact the consumer, but makes a huge difference in reducing demand for plastic bags.
At the moderate point, converting a gas hot water heater to solar is a bit involved, but provides significant impacts in demand reduction. At the more extreme level consider converting your home to alternative energy sources, give up one of your cars, or just stop driving every day. There are dozens of ways individuals can reduce their demand for oil, but to be asked to give it up or boycott oil is simply a ridiculous request.
Which brings us to extreme-ism. People holding extreme positions are not helping solve the problems we face. It doesn't matter what the topic is: politics, environmental, religion, social issues or something else, extremist attitudes prevent the ability to develop workable solutions that address the issue at hand.
During World War II the American people were asked to reduce their consumption of specific products including sugar and tires. Not give them up, just reduce the use of these items. These products were needed in the war effort. The attitude of collective sacrifice was critical to the successful outcome of the war.
All of us need to consider the positive value collective sacrifice provides when it comes to crude oil. Becoming aware of what parts of your life require the use of crude oil verses where crude is optional and easily foregone is something each of us needs to consider and act upon.
Boycotting crude oil or BP is not going to solve the Gulf environmental disaster. Reducing our demand for crude will, however, reduce the need to do deep ocean drilling. Each of us has a role that precipitated the Gulf disaster. Each of us has a role in addressing the long term solution.
Martha Young is principal at NovaAmber, LLC, a business strategy company based in Golden. Young has held positions as industry analyst, director of market research, competitive intelligence analyst, and sales associate. She has written books, articles, and papers regarding the intersection of technology and business for over 15 years. She has co-authored four books on the topics of virtual business processes, virtual business implementations, and project management for IT. Young can be reached at myoung@novaamber.com or on Twitter @myoung_vbiz
Readers Respond
Dysfunctional policy leads to dysfunctional results...fur shur!
By Mike Jude on 2010 06 11Folks, the real problem is that the oil and gas industry is germane to the economics of how America runs. Therefore, the boys inside the beltway in Washington since World War II have been guilty of supporting a double standard: demand of harsh rules & regs for the oil industry, but negligent on enforcement of such. Meanwhile, even our president flys around the world in one of the biggest gas guzzlers of all time, Air Farce One! Who is the biggest oil/gasoline consumer on the planet? And, what country has failed to do anything about climate change? Ergo, as oil usage continued, and reserves starting to run out, oil producers scoured the planet for places to drill. Can you spell Gulf of Mexico? Rather then place the blame on the American consumer, shouldn't this problem be put squarely on our own government failings? After all, we're the ones at the bottom of the pecking order here. Start cutting back on oil usage? Er,Uh, oh,'cuse me, I thought I was doing the right thing by buying an American SUV, driving it to work, school and to play, heating my house with fuel oil in the winter, etc. basically being a good citizen by doing what we all thought was the American way. Say it isn't so!
By Robert Martin on 2010 06 11Nice points Martha. The fundamental issue here is quality of life. There is a direct corrolation between energy consumption and GDP. Trying to pretend that we can all go back to the farm is nothing more than progressive wishful thinking. Our aim should be to use energy wisely, but to figure out ways to increase energy production. Will that include oil? Of course, and it should include other things as well. However to assert that society is benefitted by driving oil production out of business is misguided.
By Mike Jude on 2010 06 11Thank you, to all of you, for taking the time to contribute your comments. Please attend the CORE event on Thurs 6/17/10. This is a great group with realistic, pragmatic ideas.
By Martha on 2010 06 10Great response to the naysayers! If anything, we should support BP so that they can afford to clean it up and improve their methods. On the other hand, our government leaders failed in monitoring, improving,enforcing, and revising the regulations properly. This could happen to any drilling company around the world, when you hit a high pressure deposit well-below the earth's surface. Volcanoes do it on a regular basis in the ocean, we just don't hear about most of them.
By Tom on 2010 06 10Excuse me, indeed!! Very nicely put, Martha. Would that there were MORE voices of pragmatism and realism in our polarized and mostly unconstructive energy debate. I wish too, that we could somehow convince ourselves as a nation that the answer to the "oil problem" lies largely - and at least for the next ten years - in conservation rather than in expensive renewable energy technologies, which just aren't ready for prime time on a scalable basis without huge subsidies that we can't afford given our massive fiscal deficit. Angry rhetoric won't solve the oil problem. More inclusive and constructibve debate might. Perhaps those reading this might like to attend CORE's Distinguished Speaker Evening next Thursday, June 17, when Peter Fusaro, Founder of Global Change Associates, Stephen Brand, SVP of Technology for ConocoPhillips and Jill Cooper, Environmental Group Lead for Encana Oil & Gas (USA) will offer their thoughts on what a reality-based future for energy in the US might look like. http://www.corecolorado.org/eventcalendar?eventId=157055&EventViewMode=EventDetails
By Graham Russell on 2010 06 10Wait 'till they've cleaned it all up, then the lawsuits will probably drive them into bankruptcy, anyway.
By Events Submit on 2010 06 10Your comments are right on. And I might add that DRIVING BP INTO BANKRUPTCY WON'T HELP ANYBODY !! They would just walk away from their obligations. And we would have to trust our federal government to run the entire show. Good grief !!
By Tom Balla on 2010 06 10Leave a comment
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