The Oil Drum

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BLITZER: Welcome back. We have some brand new poll numbers to share with you right on America's energy problems. Things got worse once again this week when we learned that gas prices have gone back up by 11 cents a gallon. Just 12 percent of those surveyed in our new poll think the nation is in an energy crisis. But 49 see major problems with energy in the United States; 35 cite minor problems.

Most Americans, 71 percent, say the president is not doing enough to solve the nation's energy woes. CNN's special correspondent Frank Sesno has been looking into all things energy, America's addiction to oil. Frank, you've done an incredible amount of work. What are you picking up?

FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: We're heading for this documentary that's going to air this weekend, Wolf. We'll talk about that more in a minute. The president says, as you pointed out, we're addicted to oil. Well, even some of his allies are saying that the clock is ticking. And you saw those poll numbers, not just on the politics, but on the oil itself.

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SESNO: Roscoe Bartlett may seem like an unlikely rebel in the war to end America's addiction to oil. He's a 79-year-old former scientist, worked on America's manned space, program in the '60s, and a soft-spoken great grandfather.

REP. ROSCOE BARTLETT (R), MARYLAND: We have been using more oil than we have found.

SESNO: But he's also a feisty conservative Republican congressman from Maryland who believes we're headed for the far side of a cliff, a cliff called peak oil.

BARTLETT: There will be a day when we have reached our maximum capacity for producing oil. After that, it's going to be downhill.

SESNO: Bartlett is co-chair of the Congressional Peak Oil Caucus. He was there when the president said...

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America is addicted to oil.

SESNO: Pleased to hear the words, but too little too late, contends Bartlett, who broke with his party and president last year and voted against their energy bill. He says it was simply inadequate.

SESNO (on camera): You're a Republican.

BARTLETT: I am.

SESNO: Pretty conservative guy. BARTLETT: But I'm not an idiot.

SESNO (voice-over): Bartlett recites the numbers. The world burns 84 million barrels of oil every day. The U.S. alone accounts for about a quarter of that. With explosive growth in places like China and India, it's estimated we'll need 40 percent more in just 20 years.

SESNO (on camera): If the world cannot produce more oil to keep up with growing demand, what happens?

BARTLETT: The least bad scenario, I think, is a deep worldwide recession. And if we don't work together, it could be the equivalent of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. War, famine, pestilence, and death.

SESNO (voice-over): Plenty of people reject Peak Oil's vision of impending doom, especially the oil industry. Exxon-Mobil has taken out ads saying with abundant oil resources, peak production is nowhere in site. "Hogwash," says Bartlett.

Bartlett heats his 150-year-old house with wood, has a passive solar greenhouse, and drives a hybrid car. He challenges his president, and calls for a mix of high and low-tech solutions, a big push on conservation and renewable fuels, higher fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, more nuclear power, fast.

BARTLETT: I'm probably going to be OK through my life. But what about my kids and my grandkids? What kind of a country are they going to live in? What kind of a world are they going to live in?

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SESNO: I've got to tell you, Wolf, that Roscoe Bartlett is just one man, one voice. But what he's saying actually seems to be gaining some traction on Capitol Hill. The right moves to the center, the left moves to the center. What they say is more exploration, more conservation, and more work, because the clock really is ticking.

BARTLETT: You've got some other new poll numbers you're looking at.

SESNO: Yes. Bartlett's not alone in his worries. It's very interesting taking a look at this poll that we just did, CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll. Three quarters of the people say that they fear that the world is going to run short of oil, that we're not going to produce enough oil to keep up with all this demand. Three-quarters of people are concerned about that.

About three in ten say within 25 years. That kind of reflects the big division as to how much time is really left. And finally, Wolf, people are worried about something very immediate and something that you've been spending a lot of time talking about. That's terrorism. Three-quarters of the people I asked said that they fear that terrorists will attempt a major attack on oil installations within the next 12 months. BLITZER: Frank Sesno, thanks very much. Our special correspondent. And what Frank just told us all about is only a snippet of this incredible story. Please stay tuned to CNN this weekend, "CNN Presents: We Were Warned. Tomorrow's Oil Crisis." That airs Saturday and Sunday evenings, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. You'll want to stick around. See it this weekend. Frank Sesno and "CNN Presents."

Coming up, a Republican lightning rod. Congresswoman Katherine Harris about to make an important announcement. Will she stay in or will she drop out of her race for the U.S. Senate from Florida? The suspense is building.

And Saddam Hussein in the witness chair. A tirade that riles the judge and leads to the media being shut up. A full report, that's coming up in our next hour right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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