Diplomatic energy

For millions of years the only energy humans had was their own. By the dawn of agriculture 12,000 years ago, humans had learned to use fire and had turned wolves into dogs. The use of dogs to hunt probably helped extinct many large species and in turn forced humans to adopt agriculture.

More recently we used draft animals, slaves, water power and whale oil. In areas with fossil fuel deposits near the surface we used minuscule amounts. All of these sources together are negligible compared to our present energy use.

Coal was the first fossil fuel to be commercially used by humans. It fueled the Industrial Revolution until the discovery of oil in the mid 1800s. Natural gas was historically "flared" from oil wells as a byproduct. Now it is also a valuable commodity.

Oil is the most energy dense and portable fossil fuel. Compared to coal it is easy to extract. Just drill a hole in the right place and it comes out under pressure.

With fossil fuels, our struggle to harness energy other than our own seemed to be over. One gallon of gas contains the energy of six weeks of human labor. A small 100 horsepower car does the work of 2,000 humans. Fossil fuels

By 1960, machines did almost all of the work in the U.S. economy. Almost all of our transportation, agriculture, industry and buildings are dependent on fossil fuels.

Agricultural had been limited by the power of draft animals and availability of fertilizer. Fossil fuels provided unlimited mechanical power and synthetic fertilizer, and eventually pesticides. Land that had been used to feed draft animals was used to grow more crops. Production of food and fiber soared.

Increases in the use of fossil fuels are almost perfectly matched by increases in the human population -- and greenhouse gases. Using fossil fuels, we have created the greatest material abundance and concentration of wealth in human history. The downside is that greenhouse gases and climate change threaten our health, our communities, our environment, the climate and the future.

Now global trade and the export of jobs and manufacturing overseas brought the Industrial Revolution to the vast populations of Asia. Those workers and economies are now using enormous amounts of energy -- and competing with us for it. They are less concerned about pollution and global warming than the west is.

At the same time, the production of oil and natural gas in the U.S. and most European countries has peaked and is declining. While many European countries are getting serious about energy efficiency and renewable energy, the U.S. is doing very little. As our energy production falls, we import more energy and export more dollars.

Most countries have nationalized their oil deposits and have created their own national oil companies. In most of the world, energy is now government business. Western oil companies are continuing to be forced out of oil fields or having to renegotiate contracts and pay more.

National oil companies now control well over 90 percent of global oil reserves. Today's high energy prices are causing the greatest transfer of wealth in history. The big money is going to producing countries, not the big oil companies like ExxonMobil.

The lines do get a little blurred with some companies like Russia's Gazprom. It's the third largest company in the world by valuation and one of the largest energy companies. It is a publicly traded company, but over half its shares are under control of the Russian government. It wants to be the largest company in the world.

National oil companies treat figures on oil reserves like state secrets, so all figures are suspect. However careful analysis indicates that most nonwestern countries are also at, or past peak production. There are few places in the world left to explore.

While the U.S. is trying to take the enormous oil and natural gas reserves in Iraq and Iran by force, other countries have been using diplomacy. Russia, China, India and other countries have been building strategic partnerships and trade alliances to ensure long term access to natural resources, particularly oil and natural gas supplies. Their economies run on massive imports of raw materials and they are building the supply lines for the future.

The competition between nations to identify and lock up access to the world's remaining natural resources is intensifying. In a global economy, any country or alliance that can control natural resources supplies ensures its own future and controls other countries.

In the near future, political power will be the ability to literally turn the valve off on oil and natural gas pipelines going to other countries and ports. Russia has already done this to the Ukraine and has the ability to do it to most of Europe. Much easier than a hot, or a cold war.

The second weapon will be the use of the Sovereign Wealth Funds to buy up the infrastructure of other countries. The recent sale of a good chunk of Wall Street as a result of the subprime mess was a preview. Watch for when natural resource and extraction companies start getting bought up.

Steve Darrow lives in Putney and is a former member of the Vermont House. He can be reached at sdarrow2@yahoo.com.