THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 53, March 25, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WHY HYBRID CARS AREN'T SELLING
By Alan Caruba
ENVIRONMENTALISM, HYBRID CARS, & ECONOMIC REALITY: THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, ENERGY SUPPLIES,
AUTOMOBILES, & COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE & MARKET ECONOMIES --
WHY MOST PEOPLE, IN CONTEMPLATING THEIR PURCHASES OF AUTOMOBILES & OTHER PRODUCTS, ARE NOT LISTENING
TO THE PROPAGANDA OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS CLAIMING THAT CONTINUED USE OF FOSSIL FUELS WILL CAUSE
CATASTROPHIC GLOBAL WARMING & DESTROY THE EARTH -- THE FALSITY OF THE ENVIRONMENTALIST CLAIM THAT
THE EARTH IS RUNNING OUT OF OIL
FULL STORY:
An article in the March 19, 2007, issue of Business Week magazine caught my eye. “Why Hybrids are Such a Hard
Sell” was the topic and reporter David Welch began by writing:
“Given all the buzz about hybrids, not to mention the
greening of the citizenry, you’d think they would be
easy to sell. They’re not.”
The sale of hybrid automobiles constitutes an anemic 1.8% of all vehicle sales, down from a peak of 2.1% in October, 2006.
I would suggest that Americans aren’t all that “Green,” despite the endless print and broadcast media harangues that our
wonderful lifestyles are to blame for everything from hurricanes to frizzy hair. Those who have tried to be Green have found
that there are considerable additional costs involved and this has proven particularly true of hybrid cars that include
batteries to permit electricity to partially replace the use of gasoline.
“One major reason is that hybrids typically cost $3,000-plus more than conventional cars,” noted the reporter. “With gas at
$2.50 a gallon, it would take ten years to recoup the extra $3,000 cost of the Accord hybrid.” The cost of the batteries
account for about half the hybrid premium and “cheaper lithium ion cells won’t appear for several years.”
My guess is that auto manufacturers are producing hybrid cars as a way to take some of the heat away from the endless
claims that cars and trucks are to “blame” for a global warming, but that fewer and fewer people think it’s occurring or will
occur. Even without a lick of knowledge about the science involved — and there is precious little to support the global
warming theory — the average consumer has concluded that (a) it’s not happening and (b) the cost of a gallon of gasoline
is not likely to rise dramatically, barring some very bad news out of the Middle East or elsewhere.
A week earlier, the Associated Press took note of an announcement by oil giant, Exxon Mobil, that “it will spend
some of its huge profits on more than 20 global projects during the next three years, investments expected to add one million
oil-equivalent barrels a day to the company’s volumes at peak production.”
The other Big Oil giants aren’t exactly sitting around either. The simple arithmetic of profits is that they are necessary if new
reserves of oil are to be found, extracted, refined and delivered to the market. Oil executives get paid to calculate risk and,
when it comes to finding oil, the money involved is in the billions. It is a cruel reality that much of the world’s oil reserves
reside under nations whose stability is always in doubt or way offshore in deep waters.
Moreover, oil is a global commodity. As a source of energy, not only does the incredibly productive United States of
America need and use a lot, but every developing nation needs it as well. To lift the overall welfare of billions of people in
places like China and India, oil is an essential component of economic growth. Oil transcends a lot of the interim issues that
nations in the West and elsewhere devote constant debate.
For example, while think tanks churn out all kinds of analysis of our future relations with a China that has dumped
Communism as an economic system, though not yet politically, oil companies are moving ahead with projects that will benefit
both China and the U.S.A.
In the case of a recent joint venture between Sinopec, Fujian Province, ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco, oil companies
initiated a world class project to meet China’s need for petroleum and petrochemicals. The deal was concluded in February,
2007.
The Fujian Refining and Ethylene Joint Venture Project will expand an existing refinery from 80,000 barrels-per-day to 240,000
barrels-per-day. The upgraded refinery will primarily refine and process a type of oil called “sour Arabian crude.” Other
upgrades are included and the result will be approximately 750 service stations and a network of terminals in Fijian Province
that will be jointly owned by Sinopec, ExxonMobil, and Saudi Aramco.
Is the real world growing smaller and more closely integrated? Yes! That’s the real power of Big Oil. It is also part of the
reason people contemplating their purchases are not likely to embrace hybrid cars, no matter how loudly Greens shout that
fossil fuels will destroy the Earth. The truth is just the opposite. Fossil fuels underwrite the enrichment of life everywhere for
millions more people.
Fossil fuels are a part of the Earth’s ecology, not some bogus threat to it, nor is there much evidence that the Earth is running
out of oil.
In his new book, Untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s Oil (Harcourt, 2007), Dr. John Ghazvinian notes:
“Thanks to more than a decade of wildly successful discoveries
by the world’s largest oil companies … Africa has been quietly
transformed in policy-making circles from an insignificant
backwater into a potentially lucrative new source of oil and gas
for the global market.”
Dr. Ghazvinian Continues:
“Since 1990 alone, the petroleum industry has invested more than
$20 billion in exploration and production activity in Africa. A
further $50 billion will be spent between now and the end of the
decade, the largest investment in the continent’s history — and
around one-third of it will come from the United States.”
“Three of the world’s largest oil companies — the British-Dutch
consortium Shell, France’s Total, and America’s Chevron — are
spending 15 percent, 30 percent, and 35 percent respectively of
their global exploration and production budgets in Africa.”
The need for energy, the lifeblood of economic development, is driving nations of considerably divergent outlooks in terms
of their religions and their political systems to work together for their own good and for the greater good of the world’s
population. It is largely an invisible force at work, but it shows up at the gas pump and in the auto showroom where hybrids
go unsold.
The ultimate irony is that Big Oil may do more for world peace and prosperity than all the posturing of diplomats and world
leaders combined.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a
clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary, "Warning Signs," posted
on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Caruba’s new book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press.
© Alan Caruba 2007
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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