LETTERS

Nov. 4, 2013

'Tale of Two Cities'

Regarding the editorial entitled "Two layers of cost" (OGJ, Oct. 21, p. 20), my "window" into the effects of government policy is through my life in the two cities where I have lived most of my life, and thus you might call this "A Tale of Two Cities" (with apologies to Charles Dickens). I was born and raised in Canton, Ohio, which was an industrial superpower for its size. Long known as the "Alloy Steel Capital of the World", Stark County sported Republic Steel, producing alloy steel bars and stainless sheet, and the steel mill of Timken Roller Bearing Co., which produced alloy and stainless bars, pipes, and tubes.

From the promontory on which President William McKinley's monument stands we could see brown smoke pouring from the stacks of Republic, 2 miles to the east, and Timken, 2 miles to the south. No one gave a second thought to that dirty smoke because those mills gave thousands of high-paying jobs by which men could support their (often large) families. Today, the brown smoke is gone, as are all the jobs from the former Republic mill and many of the jobs from Timken's mill (owing to continuous casting). In its place nothing but steam rises from the stacks of Timken's mill within the city and its newer Faircrest mill just outside town.

I now have lived over half a century in the university town of Ann Arbor, Mich. My house is just 1 mile from the very influential US Emissions Testing Laboratory, which holds all automakers' feet to the fire regarding tailpipe emissions. This facility—surrounded by a spiked fence and almost hermetic security, and where visitors are even escorted to the bathroom by guards (why?)—implements the "environmental" wishes of Environmental Protection Agency bureaucrats in Washington, which cost car and truck owners when buying the vehicle, then at the gas pump and the grocery store. Foremost is ensuring that all new cars meet the limits for hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides. Although emissions had been drastically slashed decades ago, at which point the lab should have been shut down or at least reduced to just routine checking of new car emissions, EPA has no intention of ever doing this. In typical bureaucratic fashion they cut the limits in half about every 5 years. This guarantees job security because it's like jumping half way to a line—you never get there, and thus the operation will see all its workers through until they retire.

Each tightening of the already low emissions limits sends the automakers scrambling to meet them and adds many hundreds of dollars to the cost of a vehicle. Other costly effects of the regulations to the motorist are: 1. the effects of the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve that recirculates burnt gases through the engine, reducing efficiency and hence miles per gallon (mpg); 2. the mandated use of ethanol that reduces mpg because the molecule contains oxygen and thus is nearly half burnt; 3. the burdensome requirement for annual tailpipe emissions-testing in many states; 4. slashing of sulfur limits, first in diesel fuel and now in gasoline, thereby burdening the refineries with huge costs eventually paid at the fuel pump; and 5. slashing soot emissions from diesel engines.

Items 4 and 5 have been nightmares for diesel operators. Though diesel fuel, which is just simple-to-refine kerosine, was once one-third cheaper than gasoline, it now costs 20-25% more because of the severe desulfurization requirement, which is costly in itself and also which restricts the supply. A further nightmare for diesel operators is that the soot-removal process requires periodically stopping to burn off the soot (captured in a very large cylinder) with "puffer fluid" (animal urine). The control system will sometimes shut the engine down on the highway, forcing the driver to coast to a stop. I've heard of many cases where the computer control system is too complicated for dealers to repair, and even the factory facilities could scarcely make it work.

About 20 years ago I suggested to the director of the emissions laboratory that, considering that modern, smaller, clean-burning engines give off so few emissions, EPA's attention should be shifted to those occasional old, run-down cars and trucks that leave a cloud of blue smoke behind and that probably emit more than 100 or more new cars do. They could be ticketed until the engines had been overhauled. He was not at all interested, saying that police and troopers were too busy to do that. Really? He obviously had no interest in a non-EPA solution.

One has to wonder how all of the above burdensome, illogical, and costly programs of EPA could escape the attention of the mainstream media. If they did their job and brought the EPA atrocities—the above and others such as unwise limits on life-giving CO2 and on ozone and mercury (both already very low)—to the attention of the general public, people would be rioting in the streets until EPA had been brought under control. Instead, the media carry water for the environmental movement, they brainwash their readers/listeners/viewers, and thus there is no relief in sight for the general public or for the corporations that satisfy their energy needs.

Dr. David L. Sponseller
President, OMNI Metals Laboratory Inc.
Ann Arbor, Mich.

Saudi relevance

Thanks for your editorial, "The Saudi relevance" (OGJ, Oct. 28, 2012, p. 16). Every newspaper in America should republish it because your message is so clear. While it is true that America's new-found shale oil has helped US and world oil prices from going through the sky this year, if it had not been for the Saudis' bringing their production back up to the 10-million-b/d level with the cutback in Libya to prewar levels and continued pressure on Iran through western sanctions, we would be seeing much higher prices today, perhaps $125-150/bbl.

In August, the Saudis were producing 10.2 million b/d, an all-time high, in an attempt to help hold down world oil prices.

American political leaders seem to be drifting away from close cooperation with Saudi leaders, a path Americans may learn to regret.

The world needs to appreciate that Saudi Arabia is the only producing country with substantial spare crude oil capacity—2-2.5 million b/d—and it sits in center of the Arab Spring with three critical shipping lanes to move its crude.

Lou Powers
Author, World Energy Dilemma
Houston