In the aftermath of the Scottish no-vote, Chris Faulkner, our co-host on Powering America Radio, and I were discussing the implications on the air. In our humble opinions, most of the press reports you heard about this didn’t go far enough in explaining that this was a vote about oil reserves.
Bottom line, Scottish voters weren’t willing to bet the farm, or their future, on foreign energy. At issue were the oil reserves left in the North Sea. The more optimistic estimates, those advocated by the secessionists, were about 24 billion barrels of recoverable reserves left. The lower, and probably more realistic estimate, was in the 15 billion neighborhood. That’s a big difference (T-Trillions) when you’re trying to figure out a 100-year national budget, including infrastructure, social services, defense, etc.
Without revenue from North Sea operations, Scotland doesn’t have much else to hang a budget on. Covering vast stretches of the land, they have a 1-meter thick layer of peat. Great for adding that unique smoky taste to a fine Scotch, but hell on CO2. (Psssst….please don’t tell those scotch-belting environmentalists that it’s more obnoxious than…..coal) Without being able to fuel an airplane off it, or export it to China for them to convert it into electricity and smog, the monetization of the Scottish peat is virtually nil.
Other than that, the Scots figured they’d do better to keep sucking off London, even if they did feel Parliament was doing a terrible job managingtheir oil money. Like the old saying goes, ‘the devil you know is better than the one you don’t.’
What Chris and I found ironic talking about this on the radio, is that this Scottish vote is a microcosm of the bigger macro picture we are experiencing in America. Here we are, blessed with this newly-discovered technology that has unlocked centuries more energy beneath our own feet, and yet there are those amongst us who would prefer to shut it all down - i.e. bet the farm on something outside our control.
Over hyper-inflated concerns that are not substantiated by either academia or the government, this vocal and oft-celebrated sector of our fellow Americans would prefer we go crawling back to the Middle East and Venezuela on our knees and beg for their mercy and forgiveness for challenging their once-sacred dominance. Oh, and some oil and gas would be nice too, because per their wishes, we shut all of ours down. Shale, federal lands, Prairie Chicken nesting grounds, not-in-MY-backyard. Done. Turn the lights out.
I don’t know about you, but I think the voters of Scotland got it right. And let’s not risk our kid’s futures on foreign tyrants who have used our own money (from buying their oil) to turn around to fund terrorist organizations who want us dead. Makes no sense.
Powering America Radio is heard daily on the Wall Street Business Network at 4:00 Eastern and is co-sponsored by Crude Energy, LLC and Breitling Energy Corporation. Podcasts of the shows are available by following this link to iTunes.