The United States produced more crude oil in 2024 than any other country, an expected average of 13.25 million barrels per day.
Although this is bad news for the global climate, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producing countries continue to protect their markets and promote further oil development.
Goldman Sachs Research forecasts that worldwide oil demand will continue increasing until 2034, and although a decline in gasoline use will begin at that stage, demand for petrochemical products such as plastics may not.
We must keep pushing for a clean electricity supply, such as solar and wind, and backup batteries for everything—buildings of all types and transportation, even airplanes. Although batteries pose weight problems for all-electric aircraft and limit their time aloft, advances in hydrogen powered aircraft are pushing these boundaries. In July, a hydrogen-powered air taxi completed a record 523-mile flight over California.
New Jersey is making progress with electric vehicle (EV) sales, albeit slowly. As of June 2024, the state had around 184,000 hybrid and battery EVs on the road, up 30,000 from the year before, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. However, the increase from 2023 to 2024 was roughly half the increase from 2022 to 2023.
New EV buyers in New Jersey can still get a 50% break on sales taxes on new EV sales until June 30, 2025, so now’s the time to act.
From manufacturing to operation to disposal, EVs are responsible for less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of gasoline-fueled vehicles. The EV emissions are primarily related to manufacturing and power plant electricity generation; however, there are significant emission savings during operation, which account for the green difference between gasoline and electric vehicles.
A must-solve challenge is creating nationwide networks of electrical and hydrogen “filling” stations. The shortage of recharging stations is one factor limiting sales of EVs across the country.
Powering vehicles with hydrogen is not necessarily a climate-friendly choice. A looming issue is the quality of hydrogen fuel. Only a small percentage of hydrogen produced in the United States is genuinely green. Manufacturers would have you believe otherwise. The federal government has earmarked $7 billion to transition from petroleum to hydrogen production, but this program is deeply flawed and could contribute to global warming on a massive scale.
Fortunately, the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 still offers billions of dollars in subsidies and incentives, such as tax breaks, for solar and wind projects, pollution-free vehicles, home electrification, and other all-electric buildings using geothermal heating and cooling.
New Jersey also has a popular program, “Charge Up New Jersey,” which offers incentives up to $4,000 to buy or lease EVs and $250 for eligible EV chargers.
Meanwhile, offshore wind companies are moving ahead, despite supply problems and misinformation funded by the fossil fuel industries. Most recently, federal officials gave final approval for Atlantic Shores to build up to 197 turbines off the New Jersey coast, enough to power 1 million homes. This would be the first wind turbine project built in our state.
On shore, Northeast states and their utilities are planning to upgrade their electricity transmission grids to meet increasing demands for energy, to create a modern integrated nationwide power grid, and to use massive storage battery “farms” for backup power. New Jersey’s progress with battery storage has been frustratingly slow, and in 2024 legislators sought to advance the bill S-225, which would incentivize battery storage systems.
But our state faces other issues: increasing demands for electricity and cooling water for crypto mining, which early in 2024 used from 0.6% to 2.3% of all US electricity, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Data centers, riding the new wave of artificial intelligence spending, are forecast to grow in capacity by 40.5% annually through 2027. One question taxpayers must watch is “who pays for watt?”
We must continue our efforts for clean energy, not just for us but for our grandchildren and their grandchildren. Why the rush? The World Economic Forum predicts global warming alone may cause about 14.5 million deaths by 2050. Hurricanes Milton (17 deaths) and Helene (230+ deaths) recently demonstrated that US residents won’t be spared from that casualty count.