Book excerpt: One week to save the Earth

The history of how petroleum became so important to foreign policy:

Safety, terrorism and national security

I’ve saved this for the last of the great reasons to get excited about “saving the planet this week.” Why? Reducing dangerous pollution by saving energy is pretty easy to see. Reducing risks to our economy by lowering our dependence on foreign energy is somewhat more difficult to see, but still logical if we think about it. Our national security though is more complicated. Understanding requires more knowledge of what we as a nation and world society have been doing for the last 100 years to get our energy.

This begins before World War I.

Before a certain point in the history of the world, no one really cared who had oil or who didn’t. Oil didn’t really start becoming truly important until our machines had engines that ran on oil. Before 1900, the biggest use of oil was to refine a single product; kerosene.

Kerosene replaced whale oil as the liquid fuel of choice for lighting. The huge fortune of Standard Oil (founded by John D. Rockefeller; 1870) in the United States was amassed primarily in the lighting market with kerosene. During that time, gasoline and “diesel fuel” were merely troublesome by-products of kerosene manufacture. Gasoline was dangerous, explosive and highly undesirable.

Around 1910, the world’s greatest superpower was Great Britain. Britain maintained her superpower status and her far flung, world-wide empire with her famous “British Navy.” The British Navy in 1910 was powered by an energy source that the British islands could supply abundantly: coal. It was safe, secure and never threatened by uncertainty of foreign supply. There was a serious problem. Coal-fired warships required large crews to shovel the coal, the coal took up a lot of room, speeds were limited by what coal boilers could produce and worst of all, a warship had to return to some port for refueling.

In 1892 a German engineer, Rudolf Diesel, had patented an engine that ran on a heavy, liquid fuel. A version of the engine was demonstrated at the Paris World Fair in 1898 running on peanut oil. It turned out that the heavy, less refined by-product of petroleum based kerosene served quite well to power the engine invented by Rudolf Diesel. That heavy petroleum fuel has been called “#2 diesel fuel” ever since. The lighter kerosene itself is often called #1 diesel fuel.

Around 1910 it became clear that warships powered by diesel engines and liquid, diesel fuel were faster, lighter, had more room for armor, weapons and …very importantly, could be refueled at sea by passing a hose between two ships. Now, the very powerful ships could “stay on station” doing their duty instead of wasting time going to and from port for refueling during a critical period. Winston Churchill of World War II fame was the First Lord of the Admiralty at this time. He became convinced that Britain must convert her navy to diesel power to maintain British superiority and control of the seas.

However, Britain had no reliable source for petroleum. Petroleum had to be imported from the United States or the far east (Indonesia). Oil had been found in Persia (right next door to British India), in what we now call Iran. As part of the decision to convert the navy, Britain obtained a 51% controlling interest in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (what has now become “BP;” British Petroleum). Petroleum had become a critical, strategic asset; key to the success and survival of the world’s greatest superpower.

Oil was found in Iraq a few years later. Prior to World War I, the area now comprising Iraq had been part of several provinces of the Ottoman Empire and ruled from Turkey. Unfortunately for the Ottoman Empire, it aligned itself with Germany in World War I. Britain and France invaded the Middle East as part of World War I and defeated the Ottoman Empire. The military action in the epic film “Lawrence of Arabia” was part of the defeat of the Ottomans accomplished by enlisting the aid of rebellious Arab tribesmen from the Arabian Peninsula (now Saudi Arabia).

Iraq has been invaded and occupied four times by British forces in the last 100 years; World War I, II, the first Gulf War and now the second Gulf War. A person could sit around the dinner table in Iraq and tell stories of 3 or even 4 generations of Iraqis who suffered invasion and occupation by western powers. When oil was discovered in the Middle East, I’m sure the people there couldn’t have imagined what it would mean for their region. The oil became such a strategic resource for the great western powers that they were adamant about retaining control.

Now, the economy and military might of the U.S. is more dependent on imported oil than ever. Although the U.S. has never outright seized the oil of another country, it has gone to great lengths to ensure stability for production and delivery of the oil. In the State of the Union message in 1980, President Carter created official military and political doctrine of the U.S. (the Carter Doctrine):

“An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.”

Since that time, U.S. Navy carrier battle groups have been assigned to the task of ensuring the free passage of oil tankers to and from the Persian Gulf area. In 1987, during the Iran-Iraq war, Kuwati tankers were threatened by the conflict. The U.S. declared operation “Earnest Will” and escorted Kuwati tankers with U.S. Naval vessels in and out of the Persian Gulf. Since U.S. law forbade the use of Navy vessels for non-U.S. ships, the Kuwati vessels were re-flagged as American ships.

When renewable energy is discussed, there is often objection to using taxpayer funds for research or incentives or subsidies of any kind. Various people will insist that renewable energy should “stand on its own” and have to play in the “level playing field of the free market.” The costs for our military to protect and ensure access to petroleum are direct costs of using this fossil fuel. We don’t pay for it at the pump by the gallon, but we do pay for extra military every year in our taxes.

In March, 2006, Milton R. Copulos (president of the National Defense Council Foundation) testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the calculated costs of imported petroleum in three basic categories: Direct and Indirect economic costs, Oil Supply Disruption Impacts and Military Expenditures. In 2003 (prior to the second Gulf War), he calculates that the total costs of these three categories are over $300 billion per year.

He has figured that since 2003 and when you add in the costs for the War in Iraq, the cost has risen to $825 billion per year. He spreads these costs over the amount of imported oil. He figures that we are paying more than $5 in these extra costs over and above what we pay at the pump for every gallon of gasoline. If you are paying $3/gallon at the pump, you are really spending a total of $8/gallon in your taxes and other expenses when you purchase goods and services.

You can see Mr. Copulos’ testimony in full at:

www.senate.gov/~foreign/testimony/2006/CopulosTestimony060330.pdf

So far, we’ve been talking about the dollars cost for ourselves and for the world we will leave to our children. There is a more human cost which the world’s children will pay as well.

At the moment, we are in a great struggle against terror in the world.

When did this begin? Did it start when two airplanes crashed into the twin World Trade Center towers on 9-11-2001? Did it start earlier on 2-26-1993 when Al Qaeda blew up a truck full of explosives in the basement garage parking ramp of the towers? Why are people in the Muslim world so upset with the United States?

I wondered this in 1979 when our embassy in Tehran, Iran was captured and occupied and our embassy staff held hostage for over a year. Why did Iranians seem to hate us so much? Why were they carrying large picture placards in the streets and calling the U.S. “the great Satan?” I couldn’t understand it at the time. I didn’t know much about the history of the Middle East and the involvement the western powers had in the region.

Since 9-11, I’ve done quite a bit of reading trying to understand this.

I’ve learned that since 1910 when the British government took control of the Anglo-Persian oil company, there was a constitutional revolution in Iran. The Prime Minister of Iran was democratically elected. In 1953, one such elected Iranian Prime Minister, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, decided that the deal that Britain had made, with the former autocratic ruler of Iran 40 years earlier, was too one-sided considering all of the oil that was being pumped from Iran and the large profits, in which Iran was sharing only a tiny percentage.

Iran offered to buy out the investment in facilities, wells and refineries from Britain in order to get a more favorable distribution of the profits. Britain refused. Ultimately, this came to the Hague World Court for resolution. The Hague World Court sided with Iran. In the end, the British government decided to use their intelligence assets in Iran to engineer the overthrow of the Mossadegh government. Mossadegh got wind of this attempt and the coup was foiled. All British diplomats and their intelligence personnel were expelled from Iran in retaliation for the attempted coup.

The British approached President Harry Truman to use the CIA to overthrow the government since the British no longer had any ability to control events there. Truman refused. After the next U.S. election, Britain approached president-elect Dwight Eisenhower with the same proposal. He agreed. In 1953 the CIA engineered a coup, imprisoned Dr. Mossadegh and installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the new Shah of Iran. The new Shah was quite willing to cut a favorable deal for access to Iran’s oil for both the British and the U.S.

When Iran captured the American embassy in 1979, the picture placards that people were carrying in the streets had large photographs of Prime Minister Mossadegh. Americans didn’t know who this man was or why the placards were significant. Our news programs didn’t explain it because the coup had been kept classified. The CIA accidentally revealed the existence of this coup in 1999. The now-public information was then detailed in a book by veteran New York Times correspondent Stephen Kinzer; “All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror”.

Iranians in Tehran knew this history and hated the U.S. for it. The dictator Shah had maintained power all those years with a secret police (the SAVAK) that used abduction, imprisonment and torture. As American citizens, we didn’t know it. Our government had kept this secret from us.

I read this book sometime after 9-11. I couldn’t understand what was going on here. Why did people in the Muslim world hate us so much? In particular, why were 15 of the 19 highjackers on 9-11 from Saudi Arabia? Weren’t the Saudis our friends?

The next book I read to shed light on this was “Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude” by ex-CIA (21 years) analyst Robert Baer. In his book, Mr. Baer details how the U.S. made security guarantees to the Royal Saudi family beginning in World War II, in exchange for guaranteed access to the Saudi oil. He explains how the Royal Saudi family has spent the vast earnings from oil on the “good life” that includes drinking alcohol (forbidden for Muslims), attending European brothels and high, jet set living with vast estates and palaces.

In the meantime, Saudi Arabia has very high unemployment, unrest, few human rights and no democracy. The people are not blind to our total support of their corrupt Royal Saudi rulers. It has been said that “they [Al Qaeda] hate our freedoms.” It seems to me that they see our freedoms and want the freedom to have a culture that supports their own values; free of foreign influence and corruption.

You may begin to appreciate why I have left this reason, national security, as the last item in explaining why it is important to “save the planet” for our children’s future. In order to get the oil to support our lifestyle, our economy and our energy-devouring culture …we have meddled in the affairs of parents and their children all over the earth. The vast oil wealth of the Middle East has been an economic blessing for those of privilege but arguably a curse for many regular, everyday people.

We must begin to change this if we are to leave a world for our children and their children that is clean, sustainable and not mired in some perpetual “War on Terror.” It may indeed never end until we understand the underlying foundations of how our oil addiction has disadvantaged so many people all over the planet. Until we change the basic driver the problems will continue.

We must stand up for freedom and self-determination for people everywhere; including people that happen to live above the world’s largest oil reserves. We must stop our meddling with their lives and their politics. They must chart their own future. We can not do it for them. We should not support those who want to keep it status quo.

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