BENTON COUNTY — Are you, like I am, frustrated with all the “Washington talk,” posturing and criticizing the “other party” and no one talking about solving the nation’s economic problems? Last week my frustration over the corn to ethanol effect prompted me to look more closely at that impact on my gasoline costs and the price required to feed my cows over the winter. The conclusion is to realize I have very few options other than reducing the mileage on my pick-up and relying more on stored forage - hay - there isn’t much else I can do to change the impact on my wallet. And, as my inquiries led me to look for relief from Washington, I don’t see much help coming from that direction.
The Republican presidential hopefuls are busy bashing each other and President Obama, but no one seems to be talking about details of a meaningful solution to inflation, high unemployment and high gasoline/diesel.
They express views on tax rates - democrats want higher taxes on the wealthy and republicans want no tax increases, but neither party seems willing to compromise and help move the nation forward toward reducing the government’s spending. The Keystone pipeline seems to be hung up on a political environmental issue even though it is reported to be a creator of jobs and a source of oil not tied to the Middle East. What’s not to like about that?
We have some brilliantmen/women in our nation talking about the potential of our abundant supply of natural gas and how it could be the answer to our transportation needs in the future.
Not being an authority on the supply of natural gas and how it could impact our automotive and truck fuel supply, my source for information is like yours - the news media (television, newspapers, radio and the internet). Your views of this might lead you to different conclusions, but the problem as I see it is government’s inability to establish a meaningful energy policy and an unwillingness to stop pandering to special interests such as the oil companies (and their large campaign donations), environmental groups with a desire to promote only wind and solar power, and politicians who have gotten tied to the perks of their elected positions and don’t want totake the initiative to seek sound answers to difficult questions. For some reason it seems easier to guarantee over $500 million in loans to a company making solar panels than to evaluate the future potential for the solar panel market as a whole. Would it not make more sense to realize the most sophisticated manufacturing techniques don’t sell products to a market that needs a fraction ofthe capacity if it had its projected share of the market? If we used the same amount of money loaned to the bankrupt solar power company (Solyndra), could we have helped some of the larger truck fleets convert their equipment to natural gas?
Please recognize, I have read or heard all the problems with the conversion from availability of supply where needed to the expense of converting a fleet of vehicles. There is no doubt that the initial cost is very high - just like the first color television. However, as the demand for color televisions increased, the competition led to lower and lower prices and now homes have multiple color televisions and the technology has expanded to the electronics market we accept today. There are a lot of very forward-thinking business owners today who would probably convert theirvehicles if tax breaks now available to oil companies were transferred to their industries. Some of the numbers I have heard suggest that natural gas is only 60 percent of the cost of gasoline as a motor vehicle fuel. The threat of mass conversions from gasoline to our own natural gas would probably scare the middle-east oil sources (OPEC) to reduce the price of oil very quickly.
In one recent report, Detroit was quoted as estimating the cost of conversion of a new car to natural gas on the assembly line at less than $200.
I don’t know the engineering required to go from gasolineto natural gas, but I do know United States innovation is world class, if not the very best in the world. Think of the potential jobs that would be created making parts for engines for new and older vehicles, storage tanks, and all the other areas that would be involved, etc. Having a supply of fuel and conversion parts for private automobiles might be the last step in any program to convert, because this is a long-term solution, not an overnight windfall for politicians. But, it must start somewhere.
If the information I just relayed is correct, simple arithmetic tells me, I could convert my old 1994 pick-up and come out ahead. At 7,000 miles per year, I get 10 mpg or use approximately 700 gallons of gas. At $4 per gallon, my expense would be about $2,800 per year for regular gas. If I saved 40 percent I could break even at $1,120conversion cost. At $3 per gallon, I would still have $840 to make the conversion. This is simplistic, but my fear is the politicians are too wrapped up in paying back political favors and fighting for power in the political parties to deal with the real opportunities because they do require work and creative ways of making change happen.
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Editor’s note: Leo Lynch, a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 4 on 04/11/2012