Sheesh. The Fed.Gov can't even exit a market cleanly. But I'm sure that it will be totally different with Health Care.To ensure a stable supply, the US government gradually built a pipeline system that paralleled the one for natural gas and brought helium to a salt dome for storage. The site, called the Bush Dome for reasons that have nothing to do with the politician, has a liquefaction facility on site and a huge fraction of the world's total supply of helium.
That's where things stood in the mid-1990s, when Congress decided that the US government needed to get out of the business of managing helium. Ostensibly, this would allow market forces to set a price proportionate to its remaining supply, something Richardson indicated he supported.
But Congress dictated that the supply had to be wound down within about 20 years, even though the Bush Dome had enough helium to supply the entire globe for most of a decade, even if all other sources were cut off.
The result has been low prices for the gas even though, at 2008 rates of consumption, we had only a 25-year supply.
It's said that a committee couldn't bring tomorrow in on time, and that two committees wired in series produce infinite impedance. Maybe we can harness some of that Congressional hot air to replace all the helium that's floating away ...
Now the question should be...why is the gubernut in on the purchasing of helium? I have asked that question over the years and I've heard: Its used in the processing of atomic material, its used for the dirigibles that the USA was going to use (but they never got around to STOP buying to gas), and other assorted strange hypothisis (hypothisii?)
ReplyDeleteSo, pray tell oh graet seer of the mundane...why IS the gubernut into helium?!!?!
Steve
Anon,
ReplyDeleteI can't answer for the US gov and helium.
I'm still trying to work out why the Irish government considers it in the national interest to own greyhound stadia and a national horse breeding stud...
Well, okay, maybe in its interest to have management boards to appoint cronies to?
Don't know if this is why the gov't got into the helium biz, but...
ReplyDeleteBack after WWI when the idea of airships still seemed viable and the 'Huns' were still the bogeyman, Germany was the world leader in airship tech, but they didn't have a source of helium so they were forced to use hydrogen. As we all know from that very famous footage of the Hindenburg, hydrogen is a rather flammable gas and isn't the best gas to use when someone might be shooting incendiary rounds at your balloon.
In any event, sometime between the wars the US promised Germany they could buy some helium for their dirigibles but then we reneged on the deal - result: big flaming balloon in New Jersey.