Just think about this.

The 2023 state-of-the-union address – not the prepared text but the spoken version – includes:

¯ “We’re still going to need oil and gas for a while,” and

¯ “We’re going to need oil for at least another decade, and not going to exceed, and beyond that.”

For a while?

For at least another decade and beyond that?

These statements jibe with the 2020 presidential-campaign promise to phase out fossil fuels.

What would that mean?

Yes, fossil fuels are what most people use to heat their homes, cook their food, or run their cars, even if they use electricity, because fossil fuels are what generates most electricity.

Yet fossil fuels have uses other than these.

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Someone at the White House would do well to read a two-page document from the federal Energy Department. It’s called “Products Made from Oil and Natural Gas.”

Here’s the first page:

“When you think about oil, there is probably one thing that immediately comes to mind: motor oil for your car or lawn mower. And, when you hear about natural gas, you may think about heating your home, cooking, or even electric power generation. But, there are many other uses for these hydrocarbons than what meets the eye.

“Petrochemicals derived from oil and natural gas make the manufacturing of over 6,000 everyday products and high-tech devices possible. Major petrochemicals – including ethylene, propylene, acetylene, benzene, and toluene, as well as natural gas constituents like methane, propane, and ethane – are the feedstock chemicals for the production of many of the items we use and depend on every day.

“Modern life relies on the availability of these products that are made in the United States and across the globe. We zero in on some of these common household and commercial products below. The list may surprise you!”

Here’s the Energy Department’s list: Adhesive, air mattresses, ammonia, antifreeze, antihistamines, antiseptics, artificial limbs, artificial turf, asphalt, aspirin, awnings, backpacks, balloons, ballpoint pens, bandages, beach umbrellas, boats, cameras, candies and gum, candles, car-battery cases, car enamel, cassettes, caulking, CDs/computer disks, cell phones, clothes, clothesline, clothing, coffee makers, cold cream, combs, computer keyboards, computer monitors, cortisone, crayons, credit cards, curtains, dashboards, denture adhesives, dentures, deodorant, detergent, dice, dishwashing liquid, dog collars, drinking cups, dyes, electric blankets, electrical tape, enamel, epoxy paint, eyeglasses, fan belts, faucet washers, fertilizers, fishing boots, fishing lures, floor wax, food preservatives, footballs, fuel tanks, glue, glycerin, golf bags, golf balls, guitar strings, hair coloring, hair curlers, hand lotion, hearing aids, heart valves, house paint, hula hoops, ice buckets, ice chests, ice-cube trays, ink, insect repellent, insecticides, insulation, iPads/iPhones, kayaks, laptops, life jackets, light-weight aircraft, lipstick, loudspeakers, lubricants, luggage, model cars, mops, motorcycle helmets, movie film, nail polish, noise insulation, nylon rope, oil filters, packaging, paint brushes, paint roller, pajamas, panty hose, parachutes, permanent press, petroleum jelly, pharmaceuticals, pillow filling, plastic toys, plastics, plywood adhesive, propane, purses, putty, refrigerants, refrigerator linings, roller-skate wheels, roofing, rubber cement, rubbing alcohol, safety glasses, shampoo, shaving cream, shoe polish, shoes/sandals, shower curtains, skateboards, skis, soap dishes, soft-contact lenses, solar panels, solvents, spacesuits, sports-car bodies, sunglasses, surf boards, swimming pools, synthetic rubber, telephones, tennis rackets, tents, tires, tool boxes, tool racks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, transparent tape, trash bags, truck and automobile parts, tubing, TV cabinets, umbrellas, unbreakable dishes, upholstery, vaporizers, vinyl flooring, vitamin capsules, water pipes, wind-turbine blades, and yarn.

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Are we prepared to do without, or find other ways to make, all of these products?

Are we prepared to do without, or find other ways of, heating our homes, cooking our food, or running our cars? Is there even a way to do so with current technology?

Then again, maybe this is a better question: Do you suppose that phasing out fossil fuels would mean government big shots’ giving up benefits of fossil fuels?

Or do you suppose that returning to pre-modern life would be for us, not them?

You know the answer: History teaches that those implementing such restrictions tend to do so, as the saying goes, “for thee, not for me.”

That would mean we, not they, would give up benefits of fossil fuels.

So even though tires made the Energy Department’s list – which they should, because there’s oil in tires – don’t expect the big shots’ limousines, or the Corvette at the Delaware beach house, to go without tires.

Much less fuel.

Randy Elf joins those who don’t buy that restrictions should be on us, not them.

COPYRIGHT ç 2023 BY RANDY ELF