360,000 barrels of petroleum per day.

[Robb]

I was going to make this point about the likely carbon footprint of the Afghanistan troop increase. So I looked some stuff up.

If the Defense Energy Support Center's FY08 numbers are accurate, that's what the U.S. Military burned every single day of 2008. 132,527,000 barrels of petroleum, ranging from JP-8 (most of it) to AVGAS to lube oils.

My goodness, I said to myself, that's quite a lot.

THEN I found out, according to the DOE, that number is about 1/50th of U.S. daily petroleum consumption.

And I said to myself, my goodness, we just use a damn lot of petroleum. :(

[Arctic Dave]

1. Stop the war and we almost double the output of Alaska.

[unhappycamper]

2. That sounds about right. n/t

[Gregorian]

3. God! I was just getting ready to do the same thing!

Good for you.

We've already got billions of gallons into the Iraq bs.

So in other words, our top priority to save the human race should be to stop this stupidity of war. It is bullshit, and worse.

[polly7]

4. It is insanity.

Except to the profiteers, speculators and weapons-makers. As long as they're doing well, who gives a rat's behind how much oil they waste killing people.

[Gregorian]

6. We're all similar in this way. I hate to say it.

I spent many years denying myself all kinds of things. I was offered a free vacation in Moscow back in the 70's. My cousin was a flight surgeon, and had full access to some great place to stay. I commuted by bicycle for years. I didn't travel the US to see the country. And now I wouldn't travel so as to not see what has happened to it.

But here I am jumping on my huge tractor this morning, excavating for my new house. Granted I'm not using wood. But I've finally broken down and said "What the hell, I might as well live if no one is going to take this environment seriously". And I've been cursing people who did just what I'm doing now.

But my point is that we all excuse ourselves for some thing. I'll just go shopping. I'll just buy a new ___. We have to. But some we don't have to do.

The problem, as I see it is not that we shouldn't be living this way. It's that so many are trying to live this way.

I don't know, I'm hardly awake this morning. I've just blabbed a bunch of words.

[polly7]

7. No, unlike the war machine, we don't use resources to kill people and claim what

isn't ours. We use what we have to to survive. The world would survive very well without wars of choice and horrible weaponry that waste huge amounts of resources that could keep people like you and I trying to survive warm in the winter, and enable us to drive those tractors and feed the world. I just blabbed a bunch of words too ..... :). But I do understand what you're saying, even though I disagree. :)

[Gregorian]

9. Yay. I love it.

You sounded like my mom there. Which is good. I'm a purist, and forget that I'm alive and deserve good things. I cringed when I finally bought a beautiful espresso machine. Yes, we can be constructive and still live together on this planet.

My only fear is that our numbers are far too great. Even the constructive stuff is destructive. And I worry about it, a lot. But I like the way you approach it. Besides, we are all here. So we have to deal with it. Now if only we could train the conservatives to stop their wars. And I apologize for this speed posting.

Argh. Back to tractor fun.

[polly7]

10. Wow, you've got a smart mom! lol just kidding (though i'm sure she is)

I worry about all those things too. As much as I try to conserve whenever I can I also imagine what it took to produce the things I use ..... but, we can only do what we can. The big stuff ... useless wars and environmental disaster .... well, collectively we can do a lot. And we're all trying, I think.

[Strelnikov_]

5. Over 25% of the worlds production, over 30% of the worlds export market n/t

[Ezlivin]

8. It's a good thing we started building the Afghanistan pipeline before 9/11

Back on February 28, 1998: Unocal VP International Relations addressed US House of Representatives clearly stating that the Taliban government should be removed and replaced by a government acceptable to his company. He argued that creation of a 42 inch oil pipeline across Afghanistan would yield a Western profit increase of 500% by 2015.

We'd grown impatient and on May 15, 2001 a US official said regarding the the placement of the Unocal pipeline "Either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs."

So is anyone surprised that Hamid Karzai formerly served as a UNOCAL consultant? Or that "Only nine days after Karzai's ascension, President Bush nominated another UNOCAL consultant and former Taliban defender, Zalmay Khalilzad, as his special envoy to Afghanistan"?