Ronald Stien, Author, Public Speaker, and a friend stopped by the podcast to talk about energy security. California has become an energy liability to the United States’ energy security.
Please follow Ronald on his LinkedIn HERE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronaldstein/
“Clean” Energy Exploitations: Helping Citizens Understand the Environmental and Humanity Abuses That Support “Clean” Energy: Amazon Book: https://a.co/d/8WuwkFX
As always, thank you Ronald for stopping by the podcast. – Stu
00:00 – Intro
01:16 – Critique of California’s 75% dependence on foreign oil, citing in-state production decline since 1995. Lack of national-level discussions on military fuel needs amid push to eliminate oil is criticized.
04:45 – Emphasis on the need for a practical backup plan before eliminating crude oil, highlighting its role in manufacturing essential products and expressing concerns about challenges faced by developing countries in the green movement.
10:08 – Essential role of crude oil in manufacturing crucial products like defibrillators is underscored, calling for discussions on viable backup plans.
12:28 – Concerns about inflation’s impact on the cost of living, recent strikes, and a growing homeless population in California. Economic challenges for common people due to rising fuel and electricity costs are discussed.
15:56 – Potential negative impact of banning fossil fuel trucks in California on goods transportation is highlighted. Criticism of the state’s push to go green at any cost.
20:55 – Challenges faced by car dealers with regulations and the shift to electric vehicles are discussed. Lack of a robust used car market, environmental concerns, and uncertainty about California’s energy future are emphasized.
26:39 – Stress on the need for education on energy issues, ethical concerns about mineral extraction for batteries, and the importance of considering energy security for both products and electricity.
31:05 – Concerns about vulnerabilities of relying on offshore wind for electricity, emphasizing the vital role of the oil and gas sector and cautioning against national security risks.
38:29 – About Ronald’s next book.
40:54 – Outro
Other great resources from Sandstone and Energy News Beat
Real Estate Investor Pulse https://realestateinvestorpulse.com/
1031 Exchange E-Book https://alternativeinvestments.sandstone-group.com/en-us/tax-benefits-sandstone-group-0-1-1-0
ENB Top News https://energynewsbeat.co/top-news/
ENB https://energynewsbeat.co/
Energy Dashboard https://app.sandstone-group.com/enb-dashboard-version-2
ENB Podcast https://energynewsbeat.co/industry-insights-2/
ENB Substack https://theenergynewsbeat@substack.com
– Get in Contact With The Show –
Stuart Turley [00:00:03] Energy security is a real problem around the world. Countries go to war over energy security. But when does a state become a security risk? I’m about to talk to Ronald Stein. He is the author of Clean Energy Exploitations Helping citizens understand the environmental and humanitarian abuses that support clean energy by name. Stu Turley, President, CEO of the Sandstone Group. And I’m so thrilled to have Ronald stopped by the podcast. Thank you, Ronald Stein
Ronald Stein [00:00:36] Glad to be aboard.
Stuart Turley [00:00:38] I’ll tell you what, this is our second podcast, and I’ve also interviewed Todd, who is a coauthor of that book, and I’m going to have him back on that podcast has gone nuts, too. So you’re out there. Rob Your stories are getting out there.
Ronald Stein [00:00:58] Energy literacy is my passion to get people to be able to talk about it at the dinner table.
Stuart Turley [00:01:04] Well, let’s just jump right on into this. Why is. Why were you making those comments about a state being a security risk?
Ronald Stein [00:01:16] Well, when you take a look at California, we have 140 airports. We’re a big state now, other 140 airports there. They’re consuming about 13 billion gallons of aviation fuel a year. And of those airports, we have nine international airports up and down the state. We have 41 military airports up and down the state. And three of the largest ports, busiest ports in the country are on the West Coast. Wow. And we have in 95, we were pretty much independent. We had enough oil production in California, in oil production out of Alaska. We provided like 95% of our needs to meet that materialistic and fuel requirements. Well, all the governors since 95 have been on a campaign to reduce and state oil production so that in-state oil production was once dependent on foreign countries for 5% of our oil. Today, it’s more than 75%.
Stuart Turley [00:02:27] Mm hmm.
Ronald Stein [00:02:27] We’re dependent on foreign countries for 75% of our fuel needs to operate. The international airports, the military airports, and three of the largest shipping ports in the country. And, you know, it’s a no brainer. Even the educated can see, you know, you basically detect those ports. And a lot of products come through here for the rest of the country. And the rest of the country is vulnerable to California’s dependency.
Stuart Turley [00:03:01] Well, Ronald, this is energy hypocrisy at its finest. And when we sit back and it’s great, I mean, we’re going to have to give it an award over here for, you know, by the way, the and the Oscar goes to, you know, California. And this is horrific, especially if you think about our military. Those bases, that number of bases just made me airsick thinking about this, Ronald.
Ronald Stein [00:03:27] Well, you know, it’s in a way it’s not surprising because it goes to the national level. Biden has a lot of generals report to him. Army, Navy, military, Marines, the space program, not one general, because Biden’s on the same campaign. He wants to eliminate oil and use wind and solar to run the country. And not one general has asked Biden the question, how are we going to run our military without fuel, without products to support the troops? Yeah. And they say it’s a national level and there’s no conversations. And it’s like I say, it’s horrific and it’s obvious. Maybe they just want to mess up their retirement plans. I’m not sure.
Stuart Turley [00:04:18] It seems a little bit odd that we’re you and I can sit here and talk about this obvious, but is it a culture or a religion, Ronald, that your your passion is energy literacy and going out and trying to do that? How do you try to go against a religion? You can’t, can you?
Ronald Stein [00:04:45] It’s it’s tough. Like I say, when I when I give a presentation, I do not like to give a presentation as much as have a fireside chat. And most people are embarrassed. Ask an intelligent question about energy. It’s because energy can get pretty complicated pretty quick. And all the books are written with Todd Royall is in layman’s terms because no complicated formulas or graphs for people to comprehend because not everybody is an engineer. In fact, some engineers can’t even understand the graphs and formulas. And so we try to keep it in layman’s terms and, you know, simplicity. And the the people have the microphone. All they do speak in the microphone and the press only transcribes what they say. If they say we’re jumping out of the airplane without parachute, that’s what you read in the paper. Right. But, you know, let’s have a discussion or a backup plan. I’m 100% in favor, hundred percent in favor of getting rid of crude oil if there’s a backup plan. Right. You know, right now we get electricity from numerous sources, you know, from natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, solar. But all they do is generate electricity. They manufacture nothing for society. Because you take crude oil, for example. Crude oil is totally useless or is black tar unless you can refine it into something usable. And we’ve developed technology, you know, through the refineries. We get a lot of different fuels for cars and trucks and ships and airplanes and the space program and a lot of petrochemicals that makes thousands of products in our materialistic society. This conversation would end if we didn’t have, you know, iPads and iPhones and that type of thing. And everything in our society is made from those petrochemicals. In fact, if you take a look at all the systems that can generate electricity, wind, solar, nuclear, hydro, natural gas, all the components to generate electricity are made with petrochemicals manufactured from crude oil. So you get rid of crude oil. And there’s no electricity.
Stuart Turley [00:07:14] No.
Ronald Stein [00:07:15] And there’s no electric vehicles. I mean, everything goes away, right? And so we have like, say, we’re a very materialistic society. We’ve just taken the stuff for granted. And, you know, of the 8 billion people on the planet. The wealthy countries are driving the green movement, not recognizing the fact that of those 8 billion people, more than 80%, which is more than 6 billion people, they’re living on less than $10 a day.
Stuart Turley [00:07:44] And that breaks my heart, Ronald. I mean, and.
Ronald Stein [00:07:48] You’re right, they haven’t joined the Industrial revolution yet, and we’re making things harder and harder for them to afford. And right now they got nothing to lose because they got nothing to lose, you know? Right. But will they ever come out of their poverty of, you know, burning cow dung for eating that type thing? I don’t know. Be nice to have them live the same kind of lifestyle, you know, we’re living because we just take it for granted. And but the wealthy countries, you know, have this passion that we’re going to go green, but wind and solar can only generate electricity and manufacture nothing for society. I think the biggest problem in in politics is they talk about the word energy. Right. They really should not talk about the word energy. You’re you’re talking electricity or products. What do you want? Oh, right. Because, you know, wind and solar can only produce electricity. Oil, on the other hand, is never used to generate electricity. Natural gas is. Coal is. But well.
Stuart Turley [00:08:50] There are some oil burning and they are not very good at it. But they do burn oil.
Ronald Stein [00:08:59] That’s why they’re not. Yeah, you take a look at the pie chart. Oil is is almost nonexistent. That oil is generating less electricity than wind and solar. The wind and solar don’t generate much to begin with, you know, so but yeah, oil is primarily used for the petro plastics, petrochemicals and the fuels for the various transportation systems. Do you you know, when you take a look, you know, when I fly, you know, before I get on the airplane, take a step back and I look at that sucker and, holy crap, you’re going to get this off the ground. Or if you take a cruise, if you take a cruise, take a look at that ship bigger than a hotel and you want this thing to move in. So. Right. It’s it’s amazing that they basically say that we’re going to change our energy requirements from fossil fuels to wind and solar. Right. But still, they do different things when the solar can only generate electricity or they can manufacture nothing for society. You know, electricity can charge your iPhone. Right. But it can’t make the iPhone.
Stuart Turley [00:10:06] It it really can’t. I mean.
Ronald Stein [00:10:08] You can make the defibrillator and hospital work, but it can’t make the defibrillator.
Stuart Turley [00:10:14] Wow.
Ronald Stein [00:10:15] And all the all the infrastructures we have today did things 200 years ago. There was no medical industry. 200 years ago. There was no transportation industry 20 years ago, no electronics. I mean, everything is is changed in the last 200 years since we discovered oil. And since we discovered oil, you know, the light bulb came into reality. Right. By the way, it’s a light bulb is made from fossil fuel products. So and now we have all these electrical generating system options, but all the components are coming from manufactured crude oil.
Stuart Turley [00:10:54] Right. So what do you see as the biggest hurdle to get people’s attention? Because right now we have the societally thing going on out there where people are taking Glu, which is made from oil, sticking it to the pavement and then waiting to get run over or, you know, their hand cut off because they’ve good. That was really sad. Those folks that got their hand cut off because they couldn’t get the glue off. But how do we get to that generation or how do we combat, if you would, because we’re in war now. We are in a war. What Where do we go from here?
Ronald Stein [00:11:37] There’s got to be conversations. That’s the one thing we’re not having because all the policies are being dictated by politicians. The ESG movement. The bank. Bank boardrooms are setting policies. Right. But there’s got to be discussions. Like you say, I’m I’m all in favor of getting rid of crude oil. But what’s your backup plan? You know, how are you going to build your iPhones and, you know, keep the electronics going? And it’s amazing how many pieces are just become commonplace and accepted as you’ve lived and.
Stuart Turley [00:12:15] You’ve lived in California long time and you’ve seen a lot of changes.
Ronald Stein [00:12:19] Yes.
Stuart Turley [00:12:20] And. Is California changing something you wouldn’t even recognize?
Ronald Stein [00:12:28] Well, it’s changing, but I’m not sure it’s changing for the better. Like you say, inflation, you know, you’re raising the cost of electricity and cost of fuel and the cost of products. And you see everybody going on strike. The you know, the movie industry has been on strike. The UAW has been on strike because, you know, they can’t afford the cost of living. Cost of electricity. The cost of fuel goes up. It drives up the cost of bananas and the cost of, you know, fruit. And I mean, it’s it’s just amazing. And everybody wants a bigger wage rate. And so inflation is is just going nuts. The homeless, the homeless population, California’s exploding. Um, because, you know, most people, you know, tend to live paycheck to paycheck. And if you lose your job and you’re out of a job, you’re probably one paycheck away from being homeless. If you’re homeless, that that train is going to be you’ll never get back on the train.
Stuart Turley [00:13:33] I’d never even noticed that there was a writers strike. I didn’t I could care less, to be honest, because I don’t watch them. So it sounds awful, but I’m like.
Ronald Stein [00:13:45] Yeah, they’re going on strike for almost three months. You just settled. The other day.
Stuart Turley [00:13:50] I. I didn’t even know I heard that. And it’s over. And I’m like, Oh, I didn’t know.
Ronald Stein [00:13:56] That hospitals are going on strike. I mean, everybody wants to raise, but, you know, it just snowballs because, you know, if you give a personal raise to, you know, 25 bucks an hour as a minimum wage, well, the price of a hamburger went up. And, you know.
Stuart Turley [00:14:14] Then I see that somebody was paying an $18 Big Mac the other day in California. Then I did see.
Ronald Stein [00:14:21] Okay, I’m not sure about the the big me. I’m not sure the Big Mac went that high.
Stuart Turley [00:14:25] But that’s crazy in California. How much are you paying for gas right now, Ronald?
Ronald Stein [00:14:32] I paid 650 the other day.
Stuart Turley [00:14:35] 650? Yeah. Wow.
Ronald Stein [00:14:40] And you know, the interesting thing for the people that are I’m going to say, you know, well off. They don’t see any problem because, you know, I pay 650 for people that are, you know, marginally surviving. Right. There are killer.
Stuart Turley [00:14:56] If you’re looking for a living, Ronald, that I’ll kill you.
Ronald Stein [00:15:00] Yeah. And, you know, you take events in California, the elites are bottom. The elites will continue to buy them. But, Stu, we’re running out of elites now. We’re getting down the common folk. And the common folk aren’t going to buy into this. And, you know, they need a workhorse vehicle. Yeah. I looked at the 25 most popular vehicles in the country, and the Ford F-150 is at the top. And there was a couple trucks on top. And then you get that SUV. But very few people want a small sedan. Right? Tesla is a small sedan. Right, because you need space for your strollers and your skateboards and your bikes and. And so they need a lot of. And like I say, the bigger the vehicle, the bigger the battery, the bigger the price. And and the military.
Stuart Turley [00:15:56] And the more slaves that the kids have to be in the Congo. Did you hear about the new truck that was just announced by RAM that has got the V6 in it to charge the batteries? Did you hear that one?
Ronald Stein [00:16:13] I haven’t. Not yet.
Stuart Turley [00:16:15] It just came out. And Ronald, this is a so you’ve got a truck and it’s coming out in 2025, I think is when they announced that it’ll be ready. The Old World War two submarines were diesel powered, but they the diesel charge, the batteries and then the electric batteries drove the propeller. This is the same set up. You got a V6 sitting in an EV truck and that V6 is only there to charge those batteries. I kid you not.
Ronald Stein [00:16:50] Well, that may change. Let me let me explain. Because, you know, as an engineer, I thought the hybrid was phenomenal. You know, you double your gas mileage and you buy hundreds of years to develop battery technology. But the auto industry has been mandated to get their emissions down so low for their entire fleet of vehicles, all the vehicles they manufacture, any way they can get down to that low number is they have to eliminate the gas engine in the hybrid. So in the coming years, you’re going to see a couple hybrids if it fits into their calculation. But most manufacturers or 100% EVs, they can’t make a hybrid. If they want to meet the low emission requirements of their entire fleet.
Stuart Turley [00:17:34] This new RAM would qualify as an EV with a gas generator supplement. So they’re saying that it only has 120 mile range on the batteries, but you get 900 miles when you consider the the generation capability of the gas. Charging the batteries. I don’t know how that’s going to play.
Ronald Stein [00:18:01] Well, once regulars get notice that they’re still producing emissions, they’ll put a clamp on that. So, you know, it’s interesting that, you know, the Tesla has £1,000 battery, right? The 18 wheelers have, I think, an £8,000 battery with limited range. And it’s you know, you say it’s going to be devastating. We’re going to become, you know, the national security risk for America, not because of, you know, the crude oil we’re importing, but because the trucks aren’t going to come back and forth to California. And so I’m not sure the products are going to get delivered to the Americans.
Stuart Turley [00:18:44] Didn’t they ban? Didn’t California ban fossil fuel trucks after a certain year?
Ronald Stein [00:18:51] I think I followed the cars. I mean, by 2035, you cannot purchase a gasoline car here.
Stuart Turley [00:18:58] Right. And they were trying to ban the trucks coming in as well, too. And I don’t know if that had passed yet or not.
Ronald Stein [00:19:06] I’m not sure on that one. Yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:19:08] And if they did, Ron, how are you going to get your groceries? How are you going to get your food? And that one, I’m going to go check. But I think that it’s either close to passing or they were about to pass it. Can you imagine getting rid of any kind of trucks, any diesel?
Ronald Stein [00:19:29] Well, like you say, we have got a lot of product come through all the ports on the West Coast, right? Like, say you identified the three, which is L.A., Oakland and Long Beach. They are the three busiest ports in the country. And there’s a lot of other ports up and down the coast. And a lot of product comes in there for all Americans. And they get to Americans by truck by train. Right. And, you know, like I say, we’re a we’re a transportation hub here.
Stuart Turley [00:20:01] Last time I checked, Ron, both of those run on diesel. So I always you know, I get really tickled at this whole thing. And then I just saw a poll come out. They’re saying that now there are some people not happy with the way Newsom is run in California. And I’m like. Is the media starting to turn on you? That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a negative poll come out against Newsom. I don’t know what was going on with that one. That was kind of like.
Ronald Stein [00:20:36] Yeah, he’s a he’s a clown all by himself, you know, I don’t like I say that they’re just set up to go green at any cost. And like I say it, it’s affecting. We have almost 40 million people living here in California.
Stuart Turley [00:20:55] Right.
Ronald Stein [00:20:55] And, you know, like, say, the elites, you know, like I say, they they’re very influential in setting policies. Right. And but like, say, the the people that are just barely making it, they’re the ones that are suffering and will continue to suffer.
Stuart Turley [00:21:14] California and New York are losing population left and right and they’re losing. A lot of the upper echelon are moving out of New York. New York is just devastated. Tax wise.
Ronald Stein [00:21:27] Yeah, we we’ve got all kinds of taxes here. I just saw a cartoon which was kind of comical at the exodus out of California slowing down. You know why people can’t afford the fuel for the U-Haul?
Stuart Turley [00:21:44] Along that same joke rival I got really tickled. Somebody told me the other day, you can get a U-Haul out of out of California for $2,000, but they will pay you to haul it back. You know, if you go from California to Texas in a train with a trailer, it’s $2,000. But they will pay you that $4,000 to get it back, whatever the number was. I think it’s.
Ronald Stein [00:22:12] Well, it’s supply and demand. Like I say, we have the you know, the supply. The rest of the country has a demand for our people. And yeah, there’s no demand. Bring those. You all’s back here so you got to pay to bring them back.
Stuart Turley [00:22:27] Oh yeah. It’s like but I hope they leave their voting preferences. Last night Austin, Texas had a riot and I’m like, Would y’all please just leave all of your voting practices in California? Please? If you’re going to camp Texas, please leave your voting practices there. So. Well, what are you seeing coming around the corner for these card dealers if they are going to be regulated to death, you know, and they’re just going to like sit here, what is the way? Is there any hope that they’re going to survive or are they going to be bailed out because. You know, if they are being forced into this emission problem. Ronald, what is. Are they between a rock and a hard place?
Ronald Stein [00:23:20] They are definitely between a rock and a hard place. And, you know, once you get to the once you’re sold to all the elites, you know, it’s the rest of the people. You know, most people don’t buy new cars. They buy used cars. Right. And there’s no used car market in the energy sector. A you know, for a couple of reasons. One is the technology is changing so fast. And B, if the battery concept and you got to replace it, that could be a 10 to $20000 expense.
Stuart Turley [00:23:54] Now what I think I think it was you or Todd when we were talking about battery loses every time you charge it and then discharge it, it loses a little bit of its capability. And so after a while, again, you degrade that battery, degrade dates over time.
Ronald Stein [00:24:18] And that’s it. That’s a sampling. I mean, like your flashlight battery, you know, sometimes those batteries are rechargeable. But yeah, they they definitely degrade each time and over time, they’re going to need to be replaced. And, you know, right now, we have no good proven way to recycle batteries. We have no proven way to recycle wind turbines, no proven way to recycle solar panels. And so we’re just going all in to generate electricity. And we’re forgetting about the fact the world a materialistic society that lives off of products. And no matter what kind of electricity you have, hydro, nuclear, they’re not generating any products.
Stuart Turley [00:25:08] No. What do you see coming around the corner for California when we’re talking about energy? I mean, is there any way that you’re going to be able to get because Diablo Canyon has got a new life. You know, they’ve they’ve.
Ronald Stein [00:25:26] Only because Newsom was going to be losing votes and he saw a summer coming along. So he gave a life extension of another year or so, but yet it’s on the chopping block.
Stuart Turley [00:25:39] But they’re not going to it’s not going to it provides 10% of California’s power or something, whatever. Yeah.
Ronald Stein [00:25:47] It’s it’s a bunch. Yeah. Yeah. The thing what things were never sold. Well, you know, wind and solar, all they do is provide the occasional electricity. And the thing that’s really aggravating, they get subsidies based on their nameplate rating. They never a generator nameplate rating their their down most of the time because the wind doesn’t blow all the time and sun shine all the time. Whereas the other power plants build hydro nuclear, you know, natural gas, coal, they’re they’re continuous uninterruptible electricity. And, you know, hospitals and communications systems need continuous electricity. If you’re on the operating table, you don’t want to have that power supplied by wind and solar.
Stuart Turley [00:26:39] Now, you know, I’m just sitting here kind of thing. It’s kind of funny when we sit back and kind of think. Getting to the next generation kids is critical. And then that’s, you know, we’re trying to do that. And all of my discussions, we’re trying to get geared up for testing and in-home school and those kind of things. We need to make your book mandatory reading for high school kids. I think that would be the first step that we would make it very good.
Ronald Stein [00:27:12] Well, that plus plus having discussions because, you know, when Todd Row, when I wrote the Clean Energy Exploitations, we learned in detail where the lithium and cobalt that’s coming from to build these batteries and, you know, to build wind turbines and solar panels. And still I mean, I’ve made after reading the book, I made a personal decision. I would never buy an EV because of ethical reasons. I know where the lithium is coming from, and I’m not willing to financially support that. You’ve heard of blood diamonds? These are blood minerals.
Stuart Turley [00:27:47] That’s right.
Ronald Stein [00:27:48] And our government wants to go green so badly they’re providing subsidies and tax incentives. They’re providing financial incentives for China and Africa to continue exploiting those people, continue the environmental degradation of your land. You know, we can’t see it. It’s over there. And it’s you know, it’s atrocious in California with its green movement that the term and some of the environmental laws is we’re not supposed to leak emissions somewhere else. You know, we’re not going to refine it here. It’s okay to refine it over there because they have no environmental controls. In fact, I joke with people that, you know, our Governor Newsom only breathes California air. Anything outside the borders of California, he doesn’t breathe it. So he’s cleaning up California. Bridges, increasing emissions around the world. Right. He does agree those emissions, you only breach California.
Stuart Turley [00:28:48] You know that that man should never dive into the ocean. If he does, he will create an oil slick larger than the Exxon Valdez with as much oil as well.
Ronald Stein [00:28:58] I joke of the ever successful getting rid of oil. He won’t be able to buy the grease for his hair. So.
Stuart Turley [00:29:06] So that goes back to, you know, those commercials with Don where they’re cleaning the penguin with all the oil.
Ronald Stein [00:29:14] And everything.
Stuart Turley [00:29:14] Else. That penguin went swimming next to. Governor, get a newsroom. So, you know. This is a serious subject that we’re laughing about. And it’s your energy security is really critical. And in how we think about this because we also, Ronald, need to think.
Ronald Stein [00:29:37] Well, let me let me clarify. When you talk about energy security, we’re talking about electricity security or product security, both because when the politicians talk energy, they’re talking we’re going to go wind and solar without oil. I want you to do that.
Stuart Turley [00:29:56] I love the way you’re phrasing that. But energy security to me and I like the way we’re looking at this. And I need help talking about this, this way that energy security to me means product and electricity. So if we’re talking it and because you don’t go to the farm, you don’t get your groceries without oil and gas, those groceries don’t get here. Now, I don’t care if a wind farm is sitting there. However, the wind farm doesn’t hold you. It is not sustainable from day one. That wind farm is not fiscally sustainable. So in I love the way you say that energy security is. Is it product or electricity? And I think energy means both.
Ronald Stein [00:30:49] Right. You and I and several others are the minority that think that way. But politicians, they say, well, renewable energy is to replace fossil fuels. Right, because they. They don’t have the same understanding.
Stuart Turley [00:31:05] And no, you can’t. You can’t grow food with the wind farm. No. And then Germany just had to close their base af plant four months ago there because they didn’t have any natural gas. You need natural gas or make fertilizer. So, you.
Ronald Stein [00:31:32] Know, the thing that is no one’s paying attention to is the fact that, yeah, we have a fossil fuel problem here in California because we keep importing crude oil and the crude oil is feeding the refineries. Well, there’s pressure to shut down these refineries. And two of the largest refineries or pretty much maybe have a couple of years left because of the air quality management district wanting to reduce their particular emissions, which is going to cost each of them like $1,000,000,000 or more each. And they both are says we’re out of here. If it holds up in court that’s being challenged in court, then two refineries closed down. On the outside, there are you know, we keep hearing about refineries closed. Those are 700 refineries in our world. And in the next five years, because of age and the pressure to go green, go green, but 20% are projected to close. That’s 140 refineries, close to 700. Wow. That is not 140 manufacturers. There are manufacturing fuels and petrochemicals for our materialistic society. Right. You don’t read about the fact they’re building 88 new ones. In Asia.
Stuart Turley [00:32:46] In Asia? Yes. Yeah.
Ronald Stein [00:32:48] Asia. Yeah. So these are the new refineries. You know, China and Russia, they’re war historians. They know the country that controls oil and natural gas and minerals controls the world. Because, you know, Hitler didn’t control any of that, and he didn’t. He lost them. And it’s interesting that, you know, Russia and China, they’re going all in because it’s a materialistic society and they’ve got nothing to replace it. So these 88 refineries are going to be making fuels and petrochemicals. And if we stop importing crude oil, we’ll be importing the finished product from China.
Stuart Turley [00:33:31] At a higher price.
Ronald Stein [00:33:33] Exactly. And, you know, like you say, they have the supply, we got the demand, and we’re not in a negotiating position. And it’s just like the trucks are taking people now to California.
Stuart Turley [00:33:47] And, you know, the hypocrisy part of this run is the fact that the U.S.. Energy sector does it better than anybody else in the I mean, the oil and gas sector does it better than anybody else on the planet. And by by your point of those other new 88 refineries going into Asia, going into China, we’re going to be having buying from Russian oil or Iran oil going to China, and then that China is going to refine it and then it’s going to come over here. Our adversaries, Venezuela, Iran and Russia are going to go to China. They’re going to refine it, and then it’s going to come rolling over to the U.S. Do you know how much pollution just happened by this conversation?
Ronald Stein [00:34:41] Exactly right. They don’t have the same environmental controls we do. And and again, you’re just accentuating the fact that it’s a national security risk to go in that direction, you know, to support our materialistic society. We either, you know, manufacture here.
Stuart Turley [00:35:00] Or.
Ronald Stein [00:35:00] Somewhere else. And somewhere else is greater missions to the world.
Stuart Turley [00:35:06] This is absolutely frightening, Ronald. I mean, when you sit back and think about this amount of hanging your backside out, you’re exposed. I mean, this is kind of like you and I would know what this is. Those those onesies that we used to had with a flannel onesies with the buttons in the back, I guess. Okay. I know I like me some flannels because my dad did not have an indoor plumbing until he was 16. So, I mean, I’m telling you, I get cold in winter and I know what the buttons are in the back of your flannels. You know, the Chuck kids don’t understand having to rough it, and it’s going to get that way.
Ronald Stein [00:35:51] You know, I joke about if we do get rid of crude oil, you’ve heard about the unfunded pension liabilities, you know, people retiring and then they’re, you know, drawing off their retirement for, you know, 40, 50 years. The problem goes away instantaneously if you get rid of oil. Because no one’s going to live past 40.
Stuart Turley [00:36:13] We’re all going to be dead. Yeah. There you go.
Ronald Stein [00:36:17] The homeless population goes away because all the tents and sleeping bags are made with oil, so there’ll be nothing.
Stuart Turley [00:36:25] All right. You’re a sick man. That was actually funny. That was very, very sick and very funny. But just get rid of oil and everybody dies in the world. So all solved.
Ronald Stein [00:36:35] We’re back to the 1800s. It’s in the 1800s. There was no oil. There was no electricity. Life was hard. Life was short. And legacy. That’s, you know, the confusion about when the politicians say, well, we’re not solar energy is going to replace oil. Ain’t going to happen. No, no, no.
Stuart Turley [00:36:58] You know, my granddad came in on a wagon covered wagon into Oklahoma, and it tells you I’m not that far from not having electricity. And so the kids now, if the grid goes down because you tied was phenomenal with the talking about supply chain and he’s a freak I mean that man I could see that I enjoyed writing a book. But when we sit back and think about if there’s a problem on the grid, it’s going to be years before it comes back. And and what gets me all worked up is people don’t understand that we are not prepared for any kind of a burp. I mean, it can be a son. Let’s not just let’s this say, oh, a sun block. There was one in 19. Oh five, I think, or something. A sunburst that happened back then. An MP burst from the sun. It would take out the United States.
Ronald Stein [00:38:11] Yep. Electricity is very, very vulnerable. And, you know, they keep talking about offshore wind while offshore wind affects the east and the west Coast for electricity. Well, you know, North Dakota is not going to benefit from offshore wind turbines.
Stuart Turley [00:38:29] No, I think that is that is really bad. Now, what is your next book, Ronald?
Ronald Stein [00:38:37] Oh, I there’s so many different subjects. I keep talking about the, you know, the wind and solar, the nameplate farms. They get subsidies based on nameplate. And, you know, it’s a great nameplate, but it doesn’t blow like put wind turbine up in, you know, anywhere in Alaska and, you know, the snow burden. Right. But it’s got a nameplate rating. You know, I don’t know. There’s so many different ways to go around the I’ve been involved in so many podcasts like this trying to provide energy literacy, things like I you know, when I when I give a presentation, I like to provide like 50 open ended questions to the moderator, answer the audience. Right. Because I want to talk about what they want to talk about. Do you want to talk about EVs, wind, solar, oil, you know, whatever. And so these are all open ended questions. And so they could stand up and ask an intelligent question or, you know, modify it, but gives them something to start from because their question will generate an answer from me and hopefully generate more questions from them. But it’s going to be a conversation. And right now you get guys, you know, like Biden and Newsom, they’re just speaking in the microphone and Greta Thunberg speaks on the microphone And, you know, she lives in this materialistic world that cannot exist with wind and solar by itself now. And so it’s there’s got to be conversations. You know, if I I’m striving oh, my Upton articles are in layman’s term because I would like people to talk about at the dinner table. Right. And so when it comes time to, you know, vote on a new proposition, you know, that’s being prepared in a bank boardroom. All right. Hey, folks, you know, let’s talk about it. You know, I’m all for jumping out of the airplane, but I’d like something to be a replacement for the parachute. And by the way, the parachutes made for the oil.
Stuart Turley [00:40:43] You know, we just don’t have enough silkworms. You know, I mean, it would take two or three years to make a half a parachute. Well, no, but I’ll tell you what, Ron, thank you so much for stopping by Again, the podcast. And I’ll tell you what, we’re going to have all your show notes again in the in there and your your book information and Todd’s information will be in there and embedded into the show notes.
Ronald Stein [00:41:10] So you can just always run.
Stuart Turley [00:41:12] And I’m sure I will talk to you again as soon as we hear another one of your articles come across. That scream is a for a podcast.
Ronald Stein [00:41:19] Fantastic. Yeah. Just promote conversations among at the dinner table. It’s the people have to understand, you know, there’s good news is bad. You know, if you want to do this, what’s the repercussions of doing that? Right.
Stuart Turley [00:41:34] And I have a great one. We’ll see you next time.
