May 5, 2008
E Magazine
To The Last Drop
by Jim Motavalli
Robert Bryce’s Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of “Energy Independence” (PublicAffairs, $26.95) is a timely book. If you’ve ever wondered why we haven’t abandoned our addiction to oil and simply started running our cars on ethanol from corn or biodiesel from soybeans (or even used fast-food fryer oil), you need this sobering account.

May 05, 2008
Energy Outlook
Going It Alone
by Geoffrey Styles
The quest for US energy independence might just be the biggest and most persistent bad idea in the last several decades of energy policy. I've been railing about this subject since I started this blog more than four years ago, and I have acquired a deep understanding of what it means to swim against a strong tide.

May 2008
by John T. Landry
Energy is such a politicized topic in the U.S. that it’s no surprise when rhetoric obscures reality—ridiculous arguments for ethanol subsidies being only the most egregious example. Bryce, an energy journalist, argues persuasively that ending oil imports would actually reduce U.S. economic security while having little effect on terrorists (who rely mainly on organized crime for funding) and petrodictators (who have survived low oil prices before).

May 2, 2008
Curled Up With a Good Book
Robert Bryce has written an important book, one in which he persuasively argues that America’s goal of achieving “energy independence” is not just unwise; it is impossible. Gusher of Lies is the kind of wake-up call that would have saved American consumers and taxpayers billions of dollars if it had been written and understood a generation ago.

May 2008
Energy Tribune
Andrew J. Bacevich is a professor of international relations at Boston University. A graduate of the U. S. Military Academy, he received his Ph.D. in American diplomatic history from Princeton University. Bacevich left the Army with the rank of colonel. He joined the faculty at Boston University in 1998.

April 27, 2008
Chicago Tribune
It is now beyond dispute that congressional mandates on ethanol use are having a number of deleterious effects, soaring food prices chief among them. So given that, plus recent findings that greenhouse gas emissions from ethanol and biofuels may actually be greater than those created by conventional gasoline, a natural question arises: Which presidential candidate will first call for a change in U.S. ethanol policy?

April 2008
Energy Tribune
When it comes to economic growth, the vital commodity is always electricity. Peter Huber and Mark Mills, in their outstanding 2005 book about energy, The Bottomless Well, made this point clear, declaring, “Economic growth marches hand in hand with increased consumption of electricity – always, everywhere, without significant exception in the annals of modern industrial history.”

April 2008
Energy Tribune
Robert Hart has for many years worked to develop electric power projects in emerging nations. As CEO of Coastal Power from 1994 to 1999, he was at the forefront of the global surge of private investment in emerging market power, pioneering the first privately owned and operated power plants in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

April 2008
Energy Tribune
Batteries are the silver bullet.
There’s no question that electricity is the key development factor in countries around the world. Countries that have cheap, abundant electric power have healthier economies than those that don’t. But the next big step in the efficient utilization of electricity is obvious: super-high-capacity batteries.

April 17, 2008
Counterpunch
The outrages of the ethanol mandates are growing by the day. Last week, a study funded by American beef, pork and chicken producers estimated that the total cost to taxpayers of the corn ethanol mandates now exceeds $33 billion per year. That’s equal to about $106 per American citizen.

April 13, 2008
Washington Times
Energy independence?
by John Coyne Jr.
The whole idea of "energy independence," writes Robert Bryce, exuberantly, is "Hogwash." And like so many things, Mr. Bryce tells us, it all began with Richard Nixon.

"Every U.S. President since Richard Nixon has extolled [sic] the need for energy independence. In 1974, Nixon promised it could be achieved within 6 years." Gerald Ford promised it in 10, and Jimmy Carter pledged to wage the "moral equivalent of war" (the acronym MEOW proved appropriate) to achieve it.

March 28, 2008
Business Times Singapore
Facts don't back notion of US energy independence
by Leon Hadar
The leading US presidential candidates have disagreed on many policy issues, ranging from the invasion of Iraq to the handling of the current housing market crisis.

March 10, 2008
The American Conservative
Napoleon famously said that an army marches on its stomach. That may have been true for his 19th-century force. But the modern American military runs on jet fuel—and lots of it.

March 27, 2008
Power
Book Review: Gusher of Lies

While politicians, pundits, greens, neocons and farmers spout nonsense about “energy independence,” it’s worthwhile for a truth-teller who has no skin in the game to appear on the scene. That describes Robert Bryce’s new book – Gusher of Lies, The Dangerous Delusions of ‘Energy Independence’ – which correctly describes why the notion of U.S. energy autarky is bogus, a con, a sham, and the property of political and media charlatans on the right and left.

March 26, 2008
The Wall Street Journal
No Time to Declare Independence
By William Tucker

When it comes to "energy independence," American politics has discovered a new spirit of bipartisanship. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain all call for it, in one form or another -- in the name of fighting global terrorism, global warming or merely global price spikes at the pump. And of course the phrase is a cliché outside the world of politics, too, showing up in earnest op-eds and green-shaded pronouncements. Well, Robert Bryce is having none of it.

March 2008
Energy Tribune
Prior to February 7, few energy watchers were familiar with Tim Searchinger. But as the lead author of an article in Science that appeared on that date, concluding that corn-based ethanol and other biofuels likely produce far more greenhouse gases than gasoline, Searchinger was suddenly being quoted in major media outlets all over the world.

March 22, 2008
San Antonio Express-News
Book Review: Energy independence? Hogwash
by Bill Day

This is the time of year when complaints about gasoline prices get even louder. As summer approaches, prices at the pump inevitably start creeping higher, leading motorists to spawn conspiracy theories that they're being held hostage by foreign oil producers.

March 20, 2008
Tucson Citizen
Book Review: Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence"

With gas prices rising in southern Arizona, the publication of Bryce's new book couldn't be more timely. Bryce, who has written extensively about energy for more than two decades, is convinced that despite the push for energy independence by our leaders, it is an idea that might not be possible. As he points out, the integration and interdependence of the $5-trillion-per-year global energy business can be seen by examining Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer on the planet.

March 9, 2008
New York Post
What Lies Beneath
by Kenneth P. Green

"Energy independence is hogwash," author Robert Bryce tells us. "From nearly any standpoint economic, military, political or environmental energy independence makes no sense." "Worse yet," he observes, "the inane obsession with the idea of energy independence is preventing the U.S. from having an honest and effective discussion about the energy challenges it now faces."

March 7, 2008
New York Times
Heard the One About the Farmer’s Ethanol?
by William Grimes

After motherhood and apple pie, energy independence probably qualifies as the most popular political slogan in the land. It is, as they say, a no-brainer. Robert Bryce agrees: You have to have no brain to think it is possible or even desirable.

March 3, 2008
R-Squared Energy Blog
Book Review: Gusher of Lies
by Robert Rapier

I have been a fan of Robert Bryce’s writing for a long time. His style is witty and entertaining, and he is a debunker-extraordinaire. His newest book, Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence,is a must-read for anyone interested in energy issues. Concerning the topic of energy and the many myths associated with energy issues, this is a debunker’s bible.

February 29, 2008
Counterpunch.com
That increased energy efficiency will save us has become an article of faith. Last year, Congress passed "The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007." The text of the new law covers 310 pages. The word "efficiency" appears 331 times, and "efficient" appears 111 times. It mandates higher mileage standards for cars sold in the U.S., and will eventually outlaw the use of incandescent light bulbs in favor of more efficient compact fluorescent ones.

February 25, 2008
Effective February 25, I am ending my affiliation with the Institute for Energy Research. While I support IER’s efforts to promote a free-market approach to energy policy, my position as a fellow with the think tank which began in October 2007, was diverting attention away from my main goal, which is to have an open and honest discussion of global and domestic energy issues. This change is not due to philosophical differences. Instead it is due to my desire to remain independent.

February 27, 2008
The American
The Myths of ‘Energy Independence’
By Laura Vanderkam

Americans disagree on taxes, the war in Iraq, and a host of other issues. But politicians of all stripes have embraced “energy independence” as a winner. In President Richard Nixon’s 1974 State of the Union address, he said that the United States should “not be dependent on any other country for the energy we need to provide our jobs, to heat our homes, and to keep our transportation moving.” This sentiment has since been echoed by countless Republicans and Democrats.

March 1, 2008
Library Journal Reviews
With oil nearly $100 a barrel, everyone is clamoring for "energy independence" and a reduction in our reliance on foreign oil. Bryce (Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron ) debunks this notion, asserting that none of the alterative or renewable energy sources currently hyped -- corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, wind and solar power, and coal-to-liquids -- will free America from imported fuels.

February 2008
Energy Tribune
Now that the big climate conference in Bali is over, hard questions are arising about how (or whether) the U.S. and other countries can reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, the U.S. presidential race has gone into full swing. As it garners more attention, so do the energy platforms of the various candidates, who are all being scrutinized over how their energy views square with the greenhouse gas issue.

February 2008
Energy Tribune
Arthur L. Smith has been an energy analyst for more than three decades. In 1984 after spending nine years on Wall Street doing institutional equity research, he acquired control of John S. Herold, Inc., a research-only firm focused on the energy sector.

February 8, 2008
Texas Observer
Since last March, when I wrote a story about the apparent suicide of Col. Ted Westhusing in Iraq, I had believed there was nothing else to write about his tragic death.

February 8, 2008
Counterpunch.com
When it comes to the science of global climate change, I'm an agnostic.
I've seen Al Gore's movie, and I've read reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I've interviewed some of America's top climate scientists. I've also read what the "skeptics" have to say.

January 13, 2008
Washington Post
With oil prices still flirting with $100 a barrel, everyone is talking about the need for "energy independence." Late last year, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007; Sen. John McCain has declared, "We need energy independence"; and Sen. Barack Obama has called for "serious leadership to get us started down the path of energy independence."

January 8, 2008
Kirkus Reviews
GUSHER OF LIES: The Dangerous Delusions of “Energy Independence”
America’s energy discussions contain “far too much religion and far too little science,” writes the author, who carefully, gleefully throttles the meaningless rhetoric driving the cry for energy independence.

January 2008
Energy Tribune
David Pursell is a managing director and head of macro research at Tudor Pickering Holt and Company, a Houston-based energy investment and merchant-banking firm. Pursell spent eight years at S.A. Holditch and Associates (now part of Schlumberger) and did a stint for Arco Alaska, where he helped manage field engineering and operations. Pursell hold B.S. and M.S. degrees in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University. He exchanged e-mails with Robert Bryce in early December.

December 2007
Energy Tribune
Many economists have written about the critical role that private-property rights play in building wealth in developing countries. But few if any have bothered to underscore the importance of private ownership of mineral rights. With oil prices now hovering near $100 per barrel, it’s long past time for economists to recognize that state control of mineral rights breeds corruption, enriches the kleptocratic regimes that rule most petrostates, and prevents enormous quantities of oil and natural gas from ever reaching the market.

December 7, 2007
Austin Chronicle
On the science of global climate change, I’m an agnostic. I’ve seen Al Gore’s movie, and I’ve read reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I’ve also listened to the “skeptics.” I don’t know who’s right. Now that Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize, it seems that – at least for now – the skeptics are losing the public-relations war. Whatever. For me, in many ways, the science no longer matters, because it has become so rancorous and so politicized.

December 2007
Energy Tribune
Other oil companies may be leaving Venezuela, but PetroFalcon, with the largest private acreage position in the country, is staying put. In fact, as PetroFalcon’s vice chairman Clarence (Clancy) Cottman sees it, there are far more reasons to stay in Venezuela than to leave.

November 2007
Energy Tribune
In early August, it was announced that Amory Lovins had won the Volvo Environment Prize. Regarding Lovins’s selection, Volvo officials said, “He has developed a number of path-breaking technical, economic and policy concepts and succeeded in merging theory with a wide range of practical applications. His work is transforming the way we use energy worldwide.”

November 2007
Energy Tribune
For three decades, Amory Lovins has been the darling of the Green/Left when it comes to energy policy. In this 3,600-word Q&A, Lovins claims that nuclear power is still bad, and amazingly, that William Stanley Jevons, the British economist who formulated the Jevons Paradox back in 1865, is wrong. (Jevons concluded that greater energy efficiency won't reduce energy use, it will increase it.) Lovins exchanged a series of emails with Bryce in late September and early October.

November 2007
Energy Tribune
I am an agnostic when it comes to the science of global climate change. I’ve seen Al Gore’s movie and I’ve read reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I’ve also listened to the “skeptics.” I don’t know who’s right. And now that Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize, it seems that – at least for now – the skeptics are losing the public relations war. Whatever. For me, in some ways the science no longer matters, because it has become so politicized.

November 8, 2007
Austin American-Statesman
The Bush administration's muted reaction to the dictatorial rule of Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf has nothing to do with its stated goal of promoting democracy in Asia and the Islamic world. Instead, it's all about fuel supplies in Afghanistan. Without the Pakistanis, the 24,000 U.S. troops who are stationed in Afghanistan would likely run out of fuel within a matter of days.

September 15, 2007
Washington Spectator
There are many reasons why the U.S. has lost the war in Iraq: hubris, terrible post-invasion planning, lack of knowledge of Iraqi/Muslim culture, and the failure of the occupation forces to control Iraq's oil sector. But on the most basic tactical level, America has been defeated in Iraq because it cannot effectively counter the defining weapon of the Iraq War: the roadside bomb, which is also known by its now-familiar acronym, the IED, short for improvised explosive device.