Blue States Wasting all the Oil

Gadabout’s tenacious research has uncovered a hidden truth of oil consumption patterns in the USA—the Northeastern Blue States are using most of the home heating oils! There are about 107 million households in the US and 8 million of them use heating oil as a source of energy to heat their homes. 78% of these 8 million house holds are in the Northeast (all Blue States). In 2001, 5.4 billion gallons of heating oil was consumed (I am using some 2001 data since the posted distribution chart is from 2001) which is equivalent to 289,810 thousand barrels of oil in that year.

675 thousand barrels of heating oil was consumed a day in 2006. 2006 had a warmer than usual winter season, resulting in a sharp decrease in heating oil demand by roughly 25%. In 2005 the daily demand was 914 thousand barrels per day. Heating oil accounts for approximately 4.4% of all US oil consumption.

Using precious oil for heating homes has to stop immediately. If we were to reduce heating oil consumption by 50% over the next ten years, coupled with a continued increase of more efficient automobiles, the USA could easily decrease total consumption rates. This could flip the oil industry upside down.

Let me make this point absolutely clear: we should not consume heating oils in homes when other energy sources are available that cannot be used in internal combustion and jet engines. Cars cannot run on natural gas, but houses can. Cars cannot run on solely on electricity, but houses can. Cars cannot run on coal, but houses can. Airplanes cannot operate on natural gas, electricity or coal either. We need to be smarter on what we use OIL for, and heating homes with it is a waste.

The sooner we eliminate heating oils, the sooner we’ll achieve oil independence. Whether you believe it or not, we are ostensively fighting a war on terrorism, but the bigger picture is about oil. Keeping uninterrupted supplies flowing from the richly endowed Middle East is of absolute necessity for the security of the United States. And using this most precious resource for heating homes is absurd, ridicules and counter intuitive.

The pejorative use of heating oils in the United States continues to cripple our attempts at independence. It is arguable that our national attempts at conservation have been lackluster at best, but a Greening of America is underway and old habits are under fire from multiple fronts. The Northeastern Blue States need to wake up and take a critical look in the mirror and acknowledge that their consumption patterns are injurious to the entire nation.

We may not be as lucky this upcoming winter as we were last year regarding warmer weather and an attenuated demand for heating oils. If we get hit hard by dipping mercury levels, look for misery in the oil markets. It is time for Blue State Democrats to take immediate action and reduce their oil dependency.