Do what is best for America cut back on oil use

In 1978 I bought an Olds Delta 88. Gas was .35 cents a gallon and it cost about $ 7 to fill it up. Later that year I traded it in for a Ford Pinto. A week a week after I bought the Pinto gas went from that .35 cents a gallon to .75 cents it still cost me $7 to fill my tank. Today gasoline prices have started to fall and it concerns me that we Americans being the short sighted folks we are will forget the lessons of the past, even if the past was yesterday so I searched the internet for an easy to understand time line of US oil consumption. I found one directed at children. It is very easy to read and very easy to understand. To see the complete time line go to EIA Kids Page Petroleum Energy Timelines - milestone in petroleum energy history

We Americans can control oil prices. It is our consumption that keeps the price up and our consumption that puts other countries in control of our economy. By continuing to very actively seek and use alternative energy we can make ourselves free again. We Americans have difficulty learning from the past. If we had taken to heart the energy lessons of the 70's our dependency on oil could have been greatly reduced and it is possible that today's oil "crises" could have been avoided.

Excerpts from the above refered web site.

1978-1980: Oil Prices Doubled- The Iranian Revolution, which began in late 1978, resulted in a drop of 3.9 million barrels per day of crude oil production from Iran from 1978 to 1981. At first, other OPEC countries made up for the drop in Iranian production. In 1980, the Iran-Iraq War began, and many Persian Gulf countries reduced output as well. By 1981, OPEC production was about one-fourth lower than it had been in 1978, and prices had doubled.

1980-1985: OPEC kept prices high by producing less oil. Saudi Arabia acted as a “swing producer”, cutting more production than any other OPEC country. But high prices caused less oil to be used. For example, cars became smaller using less gasoline. The drop in oil consumption meant that less oil needed to be produced. Oil production from Saudi Arabia fell from 9.9 million barrels per day in 1980 to 3.4 million barrels per day in 1985.

1986: Crude Oil Price Collapse – In 1986, Saudi Arabia stopped holding back production, and other OPEC increased production. This caused an oil glut and prices were almost cut in half. Oil consumption grew quickly in the late 1980’s because prices remained low.

1993 forward: For the first time the U.S. imported more oil and refined products from other countries than it produced. More and more imports have been needed because of growing petroleum demand and declining U.S. production.

1997-1998 The Asian financial crisis that occurred in 1997 had worldwide economic effects. As the Asian economies shrank, their demand for petroleum products declined. The slow demand for petroleum, along with the reluctance of OPEC to cut its production quotas, led to the plummet of oil prices in 1998.

2001:

· The Nation’s petroleum production measured an average of 11.0 barrels of oil per day per well, 41 percent below the 1972 peak.

· U.S. petroleum consumption reached 19.7 million barrels per day, an all-time high.

· Of every 10 barrels of petroleum consumed in the United States, more than 4 barrels were consumed in the form of motor gasoline. The transportation sector alone accounted for two-thirds of all petroleum used in the United States.

· To meet demand, crude oil and petroleum products were imported at the rate of 11.9 million barrels per day, while exports measured 1.0 million barrels per day.

· Net imports (imports minus exports) of crude oil and petroleum products more than doubled from the 4.3 million barrels per day in 1985 to 10.9 million barrels per day. The five leading suppliers of petroleum to the United States that year were Canada, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico, and Nigeria.

2005 :

· The record-setting hurricane season of 2005 caused massive damage to the U.S. petroleum and natural gas infrastructure. The Gulf of Mexico, one of the nation's largest sources of oil and gas production, was dealt a one-two punch by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, causing destruction and substantial damage to offshore platforms within a four-week period in August and September.

· Gasoline shortages occurred in a some places on the East Coast due to power outages disrupting the flow of gasoline through pipelines from the Gulf of Mexico.