Lesson Bubbles Up from Gulf's Floor
Houston Chronicle, June 27th 2001
By William Dylan Powell

IT was an unusual discovery. An unmanned submersible mapping a pipeline route recently discovered the crippled carcass of a World War II vintage U-boat. It was the U-166, the only German submarine sunk in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II. It was resting in nearly a mile of water.

There was significant U-boat activity in the Gulf during World War II, though you didn't hear much about it -- neither then nor now. It's unsettling to consider that foreign powers are capable of invading our sacred domain. The general population doesn't often perceive domestic military threats. But growing up along the Texas Coast, I often heard fascinating stories regarding World War II events that occurred at home. These were tales of oil tankers based in Texas refining towns that were torpedoed by German U-boats.

These German mariners were exemplary soldiers. Not only did they cause significant disruption in the Gulf, but they also kept excellent ship logs -- which should be required reading for all complacent Americans who think that war is something that happens elsewhere. I find those stories captivating.

What should captivate you is the reason that the submarines were dispatched to our southern shores. Petroleum and its paramount importance to successful military operations brought these ambitious enemy warships deep into our midst. A blow to America's oil was a blow to its ability to defend itself and those under its aegis. And while much has changed since 1942, this is still true. Without oil, our country holds neither sword nor purse.

It's hard to believe that oil is so important to sustaining the American way of life, given the nation's unabashed vitriol toward all things petroleum. Our country's disdain for its own energy industry is not only unwarranted, it puts our citizenry in harm's way. Often portrayed as a conglomeration of greedy robber barons, the energy industry is actually our nation's finest vehicle for capitalism. To burden this vehicle with excessive regulation, negative public imagery or political posturing not only hampers our prosperity, it endangers our safety and freedom.

Though it is an unpleasant thought during our current peacetime languor, prosperity requires war -- which requires oil. And sufficient petroleum resources will not remain available if America's anti-oil sentiment persists. Even with the high-profile energy woes of California, America has failed to gain respect for the energy industry. Consumers have only succeeded in becoming more distrustful and unsupportive. Relative to other countries, energy firms in the United States ask nothing unusual from consumers in terms of price or civil liberties.

Petroleum products are as vital to wartime efforts as are bullets and bombers. It was said in World War I that the Allies floated to victory on a sea of oil. During World War II, the famous Flying Fortress bombers carried at least two tons of gasoline per mission. The Korean Conflict produced a shortage of oil barrels. And in Vietnam, more than 50 percent of all tonnage delivered to troops in Vietnam was petroleum-related. Our last war, in the Persian Gulf, was fought entirely over the access and ownership of oil itself.

The business of capitalizing on petroleum resources inherently comes with great difficulties. It doesn't need the populace to further complicate energy operations by voicing misinformation about environmental issues or adding socialist regulations to energy production. This sort of behavior only puts the country's safety in jeopardy.

If we don't start allowing the petroleum industry to conduct its affairs as our needs and the free market require, who knows what we'll find in the water tomorrow.

back to consumer