Isn't It About Time We Send an Engineer to Washington?

Problem: noun \ˈprä-bləm, -bəm, -ˌblem\ a question raised for inquiry, consideration, or solution  

Solution: so·lu·tion noun \sə-ˈlü-shən\ 1a : an action or process of solving a problem b : an answer to a problem

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. You see, Kevin Wade is an engineer and through his firm, Philadelphia Control Systems that he started over thirty years ago, has been successful in solving problems with technical solutions to help Fortune 500 companies bring everyday products that we enjoy to life.  From manufacturing bread, automobiles, antibiotics, infant formula, nylon, chocolate and peanut candies, aircraft, paints and coatings, oil and electricity and many, many other things.

In a previous post, we highlighted Kevin Wade's first hand knowledge of working on an oil rig as being a key asset to leveraging America's treasured crude oil reserves to be part of America's path to be energy independence.  In this post, we would like to share Kevin's own words on energy and the vital importance of our nation's security in being energy independent from foreign energy (oil, etc):

My decades of professional work and rigorous education allow me to see America’s energy problems and energy solutions through pragmatic experienced eyes and with an engineer’s clarity.

First of all, the politicians continuously confuse the various energy problems facing the country. This may be by their personal lack of understanding or by their personal intention to confuse the public.

There are two different energy problems in the US. The first and most critical to our security is our reliance on imported oil. The second is the artificially high cost of electricity. Both energy problems are due to the bad hands and failed policies of the career politicians in Washington. They are guilty of one or both of the charges of not knowing what they do or not caring what they do to the American people. This must end at election day in 2012.

Imported Oil – Today and everyday America imports 10 million barrels of foreign oil. This drains more than 1 billion dollars each day and every day from our sick and anemic economy. This is one billion dollars not here to build schools, hospitals, new plants and offices or to create new American jobs and a real sustainable prosperity. This treasure of dollars runs to waste from our hands into foreign hands. This drain has killed our national prosperity and armed so many of those in the Mideast who are at odds with our values.  

American Oil – Every new barrel of American oil directly offsets imported oil. Dollars stay at home. Jobs are created here. North Dakota is producing lots of oil in spite of Federal policies because the oil is produced on private and state owned lands. North Dakota’s 500,000 barrels per day in oil production has created a booming economy and very low unemployment. It is an island of prosperity beyond the reach of Washington. There is far more oil to be discovered and produced across this country and in our offshore waters. There is far more prosperity to be found using the new technologies developed by unfettered free enterprise. The road block between us and the treasure of resources beneath our feet is the willful blindness of the bleed America first crowd in Washington.

Oil Prices, the Dollar and Gas Prices – Gasoline is only made from oil. No number of windmills or solar panels will ever put gasoline in our tanks. Any career politician who speaks of energy security and gasoline prices when promoting solar or wind sources of electricity is guilty of misleading the American people. There is no connection. Repeat, there is no connection.

Oil is bought and sold worldwide in US dollars. As Washington policies destroy the value the dollar and of our dollar savings and dollar wages, it also increases the dollar price of oil. Every dollar increase in a barrel of oil results in a 2 cents per gallon increase at the pump. Fifty years ago, 2 silver dimes bought a gallon of gas. Two silver dimes still buy a gallon of gas because the price of silver in terms of oil is almost unchanged. It is the value of the dollar that has been destroyed. Who did this? Look again to Washington and the career politicians there.

Oil is a commodity that has a special economic property. Its supply and demand curves are economically “inelastic”. This means that consumption changes little with changes in price. If grape fruit suddenly doubles in price, most consumers switch to an alternate fruit to save money. They buy cheap cantaloupe, for example, and stop buying expensive grapefruit. Oil has no equivalent replacement. As oil prices soar people have no choice but to pay. School buses must make their rounds and people need to drive to work. As an inelastic commodity the slightest changes, up or down, in supply result in a great change in price. America can drive down the cost of oil (gasoline) by pumping more oil. Small changes in the total world output will bring major price reductions. The price of gas will tumble when combined with policies to protect your dollar savings and ensure a sound and stable currency.

American Electricity – There is no shortage of fuel sources or generating technologies to produce cheap American electricity. Electricity is made primarily from American coal with significant contributions from nuclear, natural gas (methane) and hydro sources. Federal policy and overreaching regulation have limited access to coal and restricted the use of coal fired power plants. Federal policy has delayed for a generation of small and safe nuclear designs. Federal intervention impede the use of new technologies to produce extremely cheap natural gas. This has limited the rapid drop in natural gas prices needed to fuel modern gas fired turbine driven electric power plants. If we remove the onerous regulations American can see electric rates drop more than 30% in the coming years.

Inexpensive electricity is the essential building block to a high standard of living. It is electricity that moves our industrial sector of the economy and its high wage manufacturing jobs.

America has hundreds of years of natural gas and coal supplies. Washington’s distorted focus on solar and wind sources of electricity has blocked our natural energy advantages. This forced artificially high prices on the American consumer and crippled our ability to compete in the world of high value/high wage manufacturing. Solar power and wind power are technical curiosities today. They are not solutions to rebuild our country.

 The technical analysis above by Kevin Wade on the current state of imported oil and high electric rates, and the alternatives are why we need someone to represent Delaware in Washington who will actually look at practical solutions rather than kicking the can down the road.  In true engineer form of offering solutions rather than rhetoric, Kevin Wade has a unveiled a robust platform to preserve America's national security through energy independence:

• Increase American oil production to 20 million barrels a day over the next 12 years; become oil independent by opening Alaska and most Federal lands to safe and responsible drilling and production to those willing to take a the risk of safe and productive exploration and production; NO TAXPAYER dollars

• All new oil is for use of the American people and is not for sale overseas; American oil independence before multinational oil company profits

• Stabilize the value of the dollar to eliminate currency decline affects on oil and gas prices

• Reanimate the country with the treasure of resources beneath our feet

• Remove Federal regulations that prevent use of high MPG engines operating on clean diesel for autos and trucks

• Allow alternate technologies to flourish in a free enterprise economy; the best ideas win in a fair marketplace

• Remove ALL energy subsidies and let the market decide; this applies to wind, solar, “Green”, oil, gas, coal and nuclear