AmerCon : Consuming 1/3rd of Everything

a third of everything

Estimates about the total consumption of the United States since the end of WWII need to
include the following:

America's industrial capability was not only untouched by WWII destruction, it was
invigorated by war time requirements; industry and it's capability to consume raw
material for production dwarfed what any other country had. So every other country
ramped up from a standing start; America was already in motion.

America consumes 25% of the world's production of oil directly. That's 22 million
barrels every day, 660 million barrels every month, 8 billion barrels every year.

America consumes 40% of the world's manufacturing output, which means the oil
energy used to produce this output is expended elsewhere but the product comes to
America; net result is that America "consumed" that oil energy.

An incredible amount of material goods are shipped to America every day, which
requires oil for shipping; net result, America consumed that oil energy, too.

America "borrows" 80% of the entire world's savings. So other folks aren't buying
things. We're borrowing their money and we're buying things.

The "one third" estimate has a ring of truth. America's (approx) 300 million people are
5% of the world's 6.2 billion population; "one third" is 33%, or a little over 6 times 5%.
Americans appear to actually have six times the amount of "stuff" (personally and in
the "collective" ... roads, bridges, etc.) than the average world citizen.

Whatever the actual amount of America's consumption of the world's non-renewable
resources; it's going to add up to a lot. It's going to be more than our share.

And it's everything that's easily accessible. When the oil and gas are exhausted, the
machinery necessary to mine or otherwise harvest every other resource near the top of the
earth's crust will stop.

There simply isn't any more coal or iron or gold or anything else just under our feet
anymore. That's all been used up.

What's left in the Earth is too deep to reach without machinery; and without significant
amounts of energy to run the machinery.

Unless we solve the energy challenge with the oil we have left (before it runs out), we
consign future generations to a world without the basic tools of civilization.

We can't prudently waste another year ignoring the energy crisis.

I don't want to observe America waste another 8 billion barrels of a priceless non-renewable
resource on frivolous luxuries when we know the energy cliff is approaching.

ehj2