The US get almost 60% of it's oil from foreigners, but not from where most think. Should we be drilling and refining more locally? Absolutely, and as soon as people wake up and tell the EPA and Obama off we can revive that industry, restore those jobs, and lower our fuel, shipping, goods and services prices.
- Canada: 18.2 percent
- Mexico: 11.4 percent
- Saudi Arabia: 11 percent
- Venezuela: 10.1 percent
- Nigeria: 8.4 percent
Do we need more energy? Absolutely. Unreliable and inefficient solar and wind collection schemes aren't going to work. Nuclear energy is viable, efficient, and safe.
- More than 67% believe we can meet future energy demand through conservation and efficiency. Historically, in contrast, energy demand actually increases alongside efficiency gains. And because energy use is not static, conservation leads to only marginal reductions in demand. The EIA projects global energy consumption to increase 50% from 2005 to 2030 and U.S. energy use to increase 11.2% from 2007 to 2030.
- Just 37% correctly answered that no one has ever died from the actual generation of nuclear power in the U.S. Though the U.S. has not built a nuclear-power reactor since the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979, 104 active reactors safely generate roughly one-fifth of our nation’s electricity.
Is the EPA unnecessarily throttling industry and driving up consumer prices for political gains? You bet.
- Sixty-three percent of those surveyed believe that human activity is the greatest source of greenhouse gases. In fact, such emissions are significantly smaller than natural emissions. The burning of fossil fuels is responsible for just 3.27% of the carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere each year, while the biosphere and oceans account for 55.28% and 41.46%, respectively.
- Less than 28% correctly believe that U.S. air quality has improved since 1970. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the six most common air pollutants have decreased by more than 50%; air toxins from large industrial sources have fallen nearly 70%; new cars are more than 90% cleaner, in terms of their emissions; and production of most ozone-depleting chemicals has ceased. These reductions have occurred despite the fact that during the same period, gross domestic product tripled, energy consumption increased 50%, and motor vehicle use increased almost 200%.
Is the globe warming? We know the climate has been both much warmer, and much colder historically. In the last 100 years of relatively accurate temperature readings the trend has been both very slightly up and very slightly down. We're talking about a 1 degree F variation from the baseline. Notice, that is a variation not a change. You'd have to have a consistent and continuing variation to prove a change. The only real pattern is cyclical fluctuation.
