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Oil boomlet sweeps U.S. as exports and production rise
excerpts
But there is a downside . . . .
read more at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...oom/52053236/1
excerpts
The U.S. exported more oil-based fuels than it imported in the first nine months of this year, making it likely that 2011 will be the first time since 1949 that the nation is a net exporter of such goods, primarily diesel.
That's not all. The U.S. has reversed another decades-long trend. It began producing more crude oil in 2008 than the year before and accelerated that upswing 3% in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period in 2010. That production has helped reduce U.S. imports of crude oil by about 10% since 2006.
That's not all. The U.S. has reversed another decades-long trend. It began producing more crude oil in 2008 than the year before and accelerated that upswing 3% in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period in 2010. That production has helped reduce U.S. imports of crude oil by about 10% since 2006.
Not all are cheering. The changes are exacting a brutal toll on the nation's health and environment, says Susan Casey-Lefkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), citing the greenhouse gas emissions of producing and refining fossil fuels.
The U.S., the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, produced 4% more carbon dioxide last year than in 2009, when emissions dipped because of the recession, according to the Global Carbon Project, an international group of scientists.
The U.S., the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, produced 4% more carbon dioxide last year than in 2009, when emissions dipped because of the recession, according to the Global Carbon Project, an international group of scientists.