A Sunday Short
Diesel fuel is essentially the same as number 2 heating or stove oil. The only variance is for taxation purposes and thus home heating oil has a dye added. Where no liquid natural gas (LNG) pipelines exist, home heat is sustained by oil, propane, or electricity – the first two are delivered by truck. Very few homes are now heated with wood. Here is a comparison chart for the United States:
Diesel fuel used on a farm, ranch, or for construction is exempt from road tax and thus, dyed red. A total of 5.3 million households in the United States use heating oil totaling 3 billion gallons annually - 85% of these households are in the northeastern sector of the USA.
Here is a cost comparison of energies used for heating:
As of late October 2022, the United States only had a mere 25-day supply of diesel fuel in reserve. The United States uses 47 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually. While diesel fuel is used in trains, boats, buses, barges, construction equipment, and for heating oil as noted above, I am quite confident that trucks, both long haul and local, use the largest percentage.
If this diesel shortage continues, expect to have shortages of absolutely everything else - including the basics like food.
Assuming the USA can get a handle on this issue as they did in 2008, this may not be a continuing dilemma, but it very aptly displays the constant issues of the current federal administration when it comes to undue and detrimental climate policy. These policies create financial uncertainty in commodity markets and as the linked story cites, “underinvestment in refining capacity and refinery closures and operation disruptions have all contributed to the scarcity of refined oil products this year but especially diesel.”
Meanwhile, top democrats are advocating for the Biden administration to nationalize the oil and gas industry To convert this industry from private to governmental ownership and control is simply another step in attempts at authoritarian and socialist rule, or in other words just like the infancy of Venezuelan tyranny.