U.S. paved land is now the size of Georgia. U.S. at night.

2009

Net Primary Productivity (grams of carbon per square-meter per year)

Human Appropriated Net Primary Productivity (grams of carbon per square-meter per year)

Human Appropriated Net Primary Productivity (as a percentage of Net Primary Productivity)

Cost of Oil: 1861 to Present

Current…. WTI = West Texas Intermediate Brent = North Sea (Dutch and English)

Natural Gas Prices

Myth: An administration’s policies directly affect the cost of gasoline at the pump. Reality: It takes almost 10 years for produced gasoline to reach the pump, start to finish. Prices of gasoline track global crude oil prices driven by economics (demand) and OPEC pricing (supply)

Myth: Increasing offshore drilling will cause gas prices to substantially drop. Reality: The US produced 5,659,000 barrels per day in 2011 and 23% (1,318,000 / 5,659,000) from the Gulf. US oil production is about 11.6% of the worlds total oil supply. If the Gulf is 23% of this total and you DOUBLED this amount (this could take years) then that would increase world production by < 3%. This might lower US gasoline prices by $0.10 per gallon. In years.

The cost of oil affects the costs of other commodities

What we pay for in a gallon of gas

p. 46

People use less electricity when it costs more

Hidden Costs of Oil: Tax Subsidies to Oil Companies (Percentage depletion allowance, nonconventional fuel production credit, expensing of exploration and development costs, enhanced oil recovery credit, foreign tax credits, deferral of foreign income, accelerated depreciation allowances, state and federal tax code interactions and tax rates, Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, etc.) (Source: International Center for Technology Assessment)

Hidden Costs of Oil: Government Spending Subsidies (Transportation Infrastructure, DOE Research and Development, US-funded multilateral development banks, Army Corps of Engineers Civil Program, regulatory oversight, response to oil contamination, environmental liability)

Hidden Costs of Oil: Protection (US Military costs ensuring oil availability and continuity, Strategic Petroleum Reserves, police, fire, and emergency response)

Hidden Costs of Oil: Environmental, Health, and Social Costs

(Air pollution, human mortality and morbidity, agricultural crop losses, loss of visibility, pollution damage to buildings and materials, global warming, water pollution, oil spill cleanup, roadway de-icing and runoff, hydrologic impact of roadways and parking lots, noise pollution, motor vehicle waste disposal, environmental impacts of sprawl, etc.)

Hidden Costs of Oil: Other Costs (Oil import dependence and spike susceptibility, travel delays, uncompensated damage for accidents, subsidized parking, weather-related financial loss, etc.)

Hidden Costs of Oil: Total

HIDDEN COSTS OF COAL BOSTON, Feb 16, 2011 (Reuters) – The United States’ reliance on coal to generate almost half of its electricity, costs the economy about $345 billion a year in hidden expenses not borne by miners or utilities, including health problems in mining communities and pollution around power plants, a study found. Those costs would effectively triple the price of electricity produced by coal-fired plants, which are prevalent in part due to the their low cost of operation, the study led by a Harvard University researcher found. “This is not borne by the coal industry, this is borne by us, in our taxes,” said Paul Epstein, a Harvard Medical School instructor and the associate director of its Center for Health and the Global Environment, the study’s lead author. “The public cost is far greater than the cost of the coal itself. The impacts of this industry go way beyond just lighting our lights.” Health, environmental damage could triple cost of power

The marginal cost of oil production is the point below which it becomes uneconomic to bring new oil projects to market. Above the marginal cost of production, oil can be extracted and sold at a price that will return to investors an acceptable after-tax capital return adjusted for risk (now at about $90-100/bbl).

Costs of Electricity: Remain Low

Costs of Energy:

Costs of Energy (from Energy Information Administration) ($/MWhr): (Doesn’t include hidden costs)

Costs of Electricity: Hard to assess exactly

Costs of Electricity: 2011

The source of electricity around the country is driven by the cost, which is often a result of geography

(from the US EIA)

1) How much tax per gallon of gas should people pay to cover some of the true costs of oil? Nothing Whatever it costs 2) Should US oil exploration be pushed to its limits (deeper, more offshore), even if the risks of oil spills increase? No Get whatever is available 3) How much of a change in lifestyle are you personally willing to undergo to achieve human sustainability on Earth? Nothing. Whatever it takes.