Our new norm - diesel (or lack thereof)

"Failure to act, will lead us to fail. It is as simple as that. We are in deep weeds right now, and the weeds will only get deeper." 

Saw a very informative story on our diesel mess last night. This is one of those issues, which kind of snuck up on many of us. So, getting informed on it, is a matter of "catch up", and doing it fast. The other day I penned an article wondering if this was a real issue, or a canard. The more research I do on this matter, I am finding out this is as real as real gets. And it is not going away. 

First off, this is not just an American problem. It is worldwide. And why is that? Because the world, whether we like it or not, runs on diesel. Europe is especially hard hit right now. What little diesel we have, we are sharing with our international friends. Is Russia to blame? Partly. Then who is the real culprit? Seems we have looked in the mirror, and it is us. Especially the "greenies".

Things have gotten worse since 2020. We have had older diesel refineries go offline, as they are too expensive to upgrade. The new regulations in the past couple of years have not helped. The diesel refineries we have left, are running at 100% capacity. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out if you run just about anything at 100% long enough, soon something will break, and you will need to take the refinery offline. And then our thin line of reserves, will get even thinner.

Again, the world runs on diesel. Some may not like that fact, and wish we had solar or windmill transportation instead. But we do not. Facts are facts, and we need diesel. We are also getting somewhat thin on jet fuel. And gasoline. All because of our bottleneck at refineries. 

How do we fix this? It will take a Manhattan type project, with government and industry working as partners, instead of foes. The Biden Administration needs to strip many of the recent pollution regulations off the refineries. Some have shut down because they can't meet the new standards.

Can we just build some new refineries? Sure we can - but it will take years and boatloads of money to do so. Plus - the payback on that kind of investment goes out a decade or two. And what company would want to commit those kinds of resources, when the President has vowed to kill your industry? DUH!

It is going to be a tough winter. It will be an even tougher spring when the farmers needs tons of diesel for their farming needs. What is the best time to address this most critical issue? Like Wednesday morning, right after the election. The new Congress has GOT to jump all over this issue.

Failure to act, will lead us to fail. It is as simple as that. We are in deep weeds right now, and the weeds will only get deeper.