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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Metacomet who wrote (108667)	6/26/2007 12:01:16 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 361375

It's all China's fault. China and the oil syndrome By MICHAEL E. WEBBER Special to the Star-Telegram When energy prices are on the rise, articles, commentary, pundits and letters to the editor blame the same foe. In a refrain eerily repeated almost word for word across the front pages and respected news programs nationwide, we hear the culprit identified loud and clear. It's all China's fault. Our most trusted newspapers and talking heads have told us that China's "soaring demand," "insatiable thirst" and "quest for oil" are absolutely unprecedented in the sweep of human history and single-handedly responsible for the run-up in energy prices (though, to be fair, some people will lump in India for adding fuel to the fire, so to speak). Why is this chorus performed in such harmony? Let us examine the facts. Chinese oil consumption has been on an amazing run during the last decade, with daily demand for petroleum increasing more than 3.6 million barrels between 1996 and 2006. In other words, China presently demands 3.6 million more barrels of oil every single day than it did in 1996, which is satisfied with oil from the world markets, making imports about half of China's total consumption and helping to drive up prices. And so it's no wonder that our clever pundits so neatly pin the blame for high prices on recent Chinese demand. After all, any country that imports such a high percentage of oil for its own selfish use and whose absolute growth in oil imports has been so steep must clearly be an inconsiderate energy hog that doesn't play nice with others and is deserving of shame, blame and ridicule. How dare China buy the oil we planned on buying?!? But the part of the story that is repeatedly left out is that in the exact same time span, U.S. imports of oil from the world markets also went up 3.6 million barrels every single day, which makes America's "soaring demand," "insatiable thirst" and "quest for oil" just as responsible for high prices as China's. Even if you just look at the last four years (2002-2006), when China's economic growth was especially rapid, its imports grew 1.8 million barrels per day, barely exceeding America's growth in oil imports of 1.4 million barrels per day. By comparison, today we import just over two-thirds of our petroleum and more than four times as many barrels of oil in total than China, despite having a population a fourth the size. But somehow these important pieces of information are universally missing from our collective consciousness. It's as if we operate from the mind-set that rapidly growing demand for imported oil is acceptable in America but not in China. Or perhaps we're just angry because they didn't ask our permission first to buy "our" oil. Any way you slice it, America is the No. 1 energy hog in the world. If we want to find someone to blame for high energy prices, it's time we take a good long look in the mirror. Michael Webber is associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy in the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. webber@mail.utexas.edu star-telegram.com