Energy

Here's an awesome chart from the brains at LLNL which demonstrates in glaring fashion just why the 'Foreign Oil Problem' and 'Electricity Generation' are two separate issues.  See that tiny little sliver of a line going from 'Petroleum' to 'Electricity Generation'?  That represents the amount of oil used in the generation of domestic electricity.  Imagine, if you will, that we instantaneously installed a massive national infrastructure of electricity generation powered exclusively by all kinds of clever technologies, and that we suddenly got 100% of our electricity from something besides oil (either domestic or foreign).  That tiny sliver of green going from 'Petroleum' is the only reduction in oil use that we'd see as a result of that effort.

When corporations and politicians talk about our foreign oil dependency and our electricity generation in the same breath, they're purposefully trying to confuse the issue.  They are shills for the oil industry, which is desperate to do anything to keep you from realizing that the problem is transportation.  Cars, trucks, cars, planes, cars, and especially cars.

If you want to talk about electricity generation and environmental responsibility, the problem revolves around coal.  Period.   Coal is the electricity demon in the closet.  The chart tells you that plainly as well.

But perhaps the most interesting story the chart has to tell is the grey block labeled 'Lost Energy' at the right hand side.  Imagine what would happen if we actually focused on that problem!  It's a tragic and shameful indictment that our entire civilization operates at well under 50% efficiency.