I usually don’t fill my tank until the dummy light comes on, but I topped off Saturday morning at $4.19 a gallon after crude rose over $10 a barrel on Friday. By Sunday, the same station was charging $4.29. That’s pretty much in line with a new AAA survey that pegs the average price of gas in WA state at $4.22 a gallon.
That’s 44 cents higher than a month ago, 95 cents higher than a year ago and 20 cents higher than the national average.
I’m guessing the only person surprised by $4-plus a gallon gas is President Bush, who back in February seemed genuinely shocked and surprised by the suggestion.
If this is the kind of energy security leadership we get from a President who fancies himself an oilman, I cringe at the thought of the kind of national security leadership we might get from a man who fancies himself a military expert.
Let’s see – Bush and Cheney were both in the oil business and still have ties thereto. Remember WHATADICK Cheney’s “secret energy council.”
Who is surprised?
# 1: Remember Nixon’s “secret plan” to end the war in Vietnam which he was tauting in 1968, as an excuse not to say what he was really going to do (i.e., “surge”)?
I guess Cheney’s secret “energy council” was the Bush administration’s equivilent strategy to end the oil dependency problem in America.
This morning’s news clips included statements from Bush that he was both “concerned” and “confident” about the U.S. Economy. No explanation on how he planned to reconcile those competing emotions within his own head.
This article says that there will be no “second half recovery”: Why It’s Worse Than You Think.
Of course, the Republicans have been banking on at least a temporary recovery which would hit in July-August, and hopefully carry them through the November elections. They are gambling that the relative flood of “good news” (i.e., “things are not quite as bad as the disaster which preceeded it a few months ago”), will help McCain and Congressional Republican races.
The real question will be whether the oil companies will come through in 2008 for McCain, the way they tried to do in 2006, with an otherwise unexplained significant drop in gas prices in the month preceeding the election, which was erased within days after the election. I’ve never been much for consipiracy theories, but that little stunt defied all other explanations.
I’m also getting pretty tired of the bar for performance in government being lowered to near shin-level, in order to enable Republicans to talk about how good they look while they jump over it. I
If things recover just good enough for the Dow to pass 13,000, you can bet that Fox News will be beating the drum about how the economy has turned around, and Bush & Co. deserve the credit. Of course, the DJIA would have to pass 18,000 to match the performance during the Bush I administration, and he was thrown out on his ear largely due to economic issues.
Didn’t anyone ever tell you that’s not a good idea? If you place so little value on things you own can you at least care about the environment.
Republicans 2K: “Ignorance is the new expertise.”
But their incompetent anti-intellectualism has fallen out of favor because, well, people have seen and now reject the shabby results such governance provides. Obama’s a lock, and the Congress wil be 59 Dems in the Senate and 238 in the House.
Now that the school year is over (or about over), it’s time for final grade of the Republicans and the Bush Administration:
Economic Administration: Grade F.
Performance completely lacking in basic oversight over financial institutions, refused to do required work, and instead tried to pass off work to the very people they were supposed to be overseeing. Resulting collapse of financial institutions and rescession caused by “credit crisis” should be no suprise to anyone who has reviewed the required reading material. Likewise, the lack of an energy policy other than “sell more gas” has predictable results in higher oil & gas prices and a resulting depressionary effect on the entire economy.
Fiscal Management: Grade F.
Cut important budgets beyond sustainable levels, then rushed to throw cash at problems when infrastructure collapsed and became a public-relations problem. Spent huge sums of money on private contractors with virtually no procurement, quality or cost controls. Refused to perform necessary adjustments to either spending or income policy, resulting in huge budget deficits and massive federal debt which will probably take decades to resolve.
Foreign Policy: Grade F.
Has squandered international good will resulting from 9/11, has allianated virtually every western or pro-western government, has weakened U.S. ability to exercise enfluence internationally over important issues.
Military Affairs: Grade F.
Revealed complete lack of understanding of the proper role and handling of military intellegence, blundered into a war with no occupation strategy or exit strategy, stiffled important viewpoints within the military by transferring or “retiring” officers who expressed operational concerns about politically-motivated missions, gave the military an unsustainable mission without defined goals, stretched the resources of the volunteer army to the breaking point, neglected basic care & protection of military both on the field (unarmored humvees) and at home (inadequate health care for wounded veterans, opposed extension of G.I. benefits for returning soldiers).
National Security: Grade F.
Misguided adventure into Iraq has made the U.S. and it’s allies considerably less secure, rather than more so, creating a breeding ground for terrorists and a public-relations bonanza for Al Quida. Also, attempts to secure airports and ports have created paperwork burdens and traveler hassles, but have resulted in no substantive improvement to U.S. security.
Law & Order: Grade F.
Exhibited complete mis-understanding of the role of law as a system in a democracy. Used the Justice Dept. for politically-motivated prosecutions and attempted to protect political supporters. Engaged in obstruction of justice in covering up the illegal activities within the administration, including civil rights violations, election manipulation, and the “outing” of CIA agent Valerie Plame.
Civil Rights: Grade F.
Warrentless wiretaps, detentions without habeous corpus, military tribunals, foreign renditions, election manipulation & voter intereference, politically motivated prosecutions, all indicate a complete misunderstanding of the basics of U.S. Constitutional protections and a willingness to subvert them for political advantage.
Okay, I tried to find a place where I could give them a “D”, or even a “C” for balance, but in all fairness I couldn’t do so.
@5 Yes! Yes! Drive around with your tank full, Stamm! More weight means more fuel consumption! I love selling you Repugs my gas at $4.29 a gallon!
By the way, lots of speculation about $5.00 per gallon gas by July 1st. I’ve always thought that it would fall back to around $3.80 shortly after it passed the $4.00 mark, but what do I know?
@8
Shh… don’t tell him…
Well, I’ve always heard that you were supposed to fill it up when it reached 1/2 tank. The reasoning was that the air in the tank allowed for water vapors/condensation to develop, resulting in water in your gas tank.
But as for me, I usually try to go a week on a tank of gas, so I’m usually below 1/8 of a tank when I fill up on the weekend when I can get it at Costco on the way home from church (quite a bit cheaper than other places). So do as I say, not do as I do.
@7 That’s what happens when the kids snort coke in the boys’ room when they’re supposed to be studying.
@2 rhp:
Yup I do remember the secret plan that Nixon “touted” to end the war in vietnam – turns out there really was no plan – it is the same as in Iraq. Vietnamization or they will stand up and we will stand down or wait until the Iraqis can handle it on their own….or any other BS we know is not true…
I also know that Bush and the neocons said this war would pay for itself and that oil would be cheaper than ever – but the bility of Bush and the neocons to predict the future is severely limited by the facts on the ground…
So does anyone think once we get the thieves out of the White House, gas prices will plunge since the thieves have no more say in the matter?
Hannah @ 14: Hard to tell. Just because the thieves leave, doesn’t mean you get your stuff back.
It will take years, perhaps decades, to correct the problems created by the Bush administration and their allies in the previous Republican Congress. And the “lost opportunities” are enough to make one cry.
For example, we needed the good graces of the Saudis to keep oil prices lower while we fixed our own problems with respect to consumption and alternative energy technology. But we wasted eight years without a credible plan, the King died and the Crown Prince took over, and he just told Bush to go jump in the lake when Bush pleaded for him to pump more oil – in part because of Bush’s Iraq war, which the Saudis always warned was a bad idea.
It’s awfully hard to make up eight years of neglect over the short term.
I’m hoping that 2000 wasn’t the “high-water mark” for America, in terms of foreign influence and economic strength. It will take quite a bit of work and sacrifice to keep that from happening. But the Republicans have never been strong in terms of hard work and sacrifice, despite their propoganda to the contrary. Instead, they have preached instant gratification and peddled the “easy fix”, especially in terms of fiscal policy, tax policy, government oversight, and energy. The Democrats will have to fight that the whole way while they try to fix what’s wrong.
Wow. You guys (rhp, et al) do really live in an alternate universe where the sky is probably…. pink!
Nixon kicked the Vietcong’s @ss where they were forced to concede to a peace agreement. The commie-demos in Congress capitulated and lost the war in 1975. THE DEMOCRATS LOST THE VIETNAM WAR! (And millions of Asians subsequently died because of the latent race-hatred displayed repeatedly by democrats. Can’t deny the domino theory. It undeniably came true in SE Asia.)
Last time ANYBODY checked, Iraq is more stable than Mexico. The surge worked. Bush was right, the demos were wrong. Again. Repeatedly.
Failed national security? Last time ANYBODY checked, you leftist idiots haven’t had ANY of your civil rights taken away. Every and all of your CONSTITUTIONAL rights are as strong today as ever. We are at WAR with the mudlims in the muddle East. Who cares if Osama’s phone calls are listened to? Not REAL Americans.
International “good will” on 09/12/01? Only because the rest of the world saw us as weakened. Temporarily defeated. They loved it (in RED China they showed the video repeatedly to cheering crowds).
GWB has made DAMNED sure we haven’t been attacked since. I’ll agree he hasn’t been fiscally sound (too much corporate and personal welfare), but the man does deserve the credit for keeping America safe.
Barry Hussein or ALgore or “Purple heart” Kerry would have waved a white flag by now. It’s in their blood.
Can’t help noticing you didn’t attempt a grade on Energy policy. Repeatedly, the Bush Administration has said we need to open up AMERICA’S oil fields. They were and are right. There isn’t a single LIBERAL IDIOT who isn’t blogging here on anything other than an OIL-BASED PC! WHERE DO YOU CLOWNS THINK PLASTIC COMES FROM?
OIL. It’s our past. It’s also our future. Or America won’t have one. At least not as a first-world country.
Overall, Bush deserves a C. Flat out. Clinton deserved a D (he left the economy in a shambles. In peacetime. And, HE let all of the Sept 11 hijackers in). Reagan a -B- (only because he gave amnesty to criminals: NEVER a good idea).
Jimmy Carter? No matter how much spit and polish ya put on it: An F. Only Barry Hussein could possibly challenge him as the worst President in the last 50 years.
rhp @ 15 – here you say “unexplained significant drop in gas prices in the month preceeding the election, which was erased within days after the election. I’ve never been much for consipiracy theories, but that little stunt defied all other explanations.”
So it seems its obviously easily controlled by who is in charge. If the oil companies can increase prices then suddenly decrease them via pressures of political power…that to me says it should not take years, rather months at the longest. Although since a dem controlled congress has done nothing of the sort, I pray dems get 100% control so there will be no Pelosi excuses for the mess we are in now.
@16 cmiklich spews:
“Wow.”
My guess is that the prospects of two terms of an Obama presidency and the Democrats having a lock on congress is just a little too much for you to bear. I suggest that you learn to live with it, cmiklich, because that’s the way it’s going to be and there’s nothing that you can do about it.
Every time some cum-drunk righties comes on here spewing his Limpdick Rush Limbaugh acquired talking points I have to laugh.
No need to address most since it’s obvious bullshit but my favorite thing in these posts is the crap about ANWR. The idiots must have sent each other a memo because this is all they say. But there are a few problems with this.
1) They don’t want you to know the biggest oil deposits are off the coast of Florida where GOP Governor and Baby Bush brother Jeb Bush has worked hard to stop it.
2) They had six fucking years to do this when they controlled the White House and the Congress and instead they spent all that time trying to protect each other from the various sex scandals they were caught up in.
3) Any of that oil is 10 years away and is going to be sold overseas.
Nice try dumbfucks.
Steve @ 18 – cmiklich will get a real rude awakening when in the next 4 years Obama will turn things around like Clinton did in his 8 years with Reagan and Bush 1 mess ups over their 12 years.
http://www.house.gov/pelosi/pr.....stamp.html
Soooooo, the Democrats were going to lower gas prices…..
“Americans this week are paying $2.91 a gallon on average for regular gasoline – 33 cents higher than last month”
Hmmm with the Democrats in charge…and now less than 14 months later, gas is $1.13 higher.
Of course this is all just Bush.
RS @ 21 – Unfortunately Congress has already said they have no quick fix for gas prices. The plan calls for alternative energy but they warn we won’t see the payoff from that in less than 8-10 years. And Bush doesn’t give a hoot anymore as he is on his way out of office.
Had we had alternative energy programs started 10+ years ago, things may be quite different. So until this country (both sides) can come up with an alternative energy plan, all we can do is pay the high prices or stop driving.
Hannah @ 17: The Democrats won’t control the oil companies even if they take the Presidency. The oil companies set the prices. All we can do is attempt to affect them with taxes, tax incentives, and investment in alternatives, and anti-trust oversight.
It seems clear to me that the oil companies decided that their buddy (and his allies in Congress) was in trouble, and they tried to prop him up. Pretty dangerous gambit, considering that it confirmed what they have denied all along that they act in any concerted fashion concerning supplies or pricing. To admit otherwise would be an antitrust violation.
Clearly, you are trying to set it up for Obama to take the blame if gas prices don’t come down within a few weeks of his inaugeration. Sorry, that strategy won’t think among those that know anything about macro economics and energy policy.
Right Stuff @ 21: Another lame attempt to blame the Democrats, having just gotten control of 1/3 of the government for 1-1/2 year, for fixing all the problems caused by the Republicans over 7-1/2 years of controlling the other two-thirds of government (White House + U.S. Supreme Court). Not to mention the obvious fact that the Republicans have blocked virtually every Democratic Congressional initiative with a veto, promised veto, filibuster, or threatened filibuster.
@20 Chances are, even cmiklich will prosper during an Obama presidency, much as that will pain him.
Cmiklich @ 16: Wow. It’s a strange world you live in, full of talking points that you must receive by fax from Limbaugh on a daily basis.
And trying to bring Vietnam into the discussion is hilarious, especially in light of Kissinger’s biography, in which he admits that he and Nixon knew Vietnam wouldn’t last very long, and they just wanted it last for four years, until after he left office (he could then blame the loss on his successor). It didn’t last quite that long – about three years, but he didn’t know at the time he wouldn’t be in office for other reasons. By the way, research the difference between the 1972 peace accords and the proposals by North Vietnam to end the war in January 1969: you won’t see much of a difference.
IMO,
We need to increase supply now……
That means drilling. Coastal CA. FL, Gulf Mexico, AK, S.Dakota et al.
Clean fired coal plants, nuclear power plants, New refining capacity…
All things we can do right now. WE HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF COAL…. We should use it….
Congress is doing nothing to increase supply.
I blame President Bush for not playing hardball, and pushing for expanded drilling…
I also blame the REpublicans who held congress until 2006. They did not do the job….
I say, let’s eliminate the “a la carte” gas “cocktails” that just about every state has, and just lock into the CA standard. Get some effeciency in the refining process.
The rest of the comments hardly deserve mention.
Iraq is more stable than Mexico? Okay, why don’t you and your family take a vacation trip to beautiful Iraq, without the benefit of any protective details, and see how long you last.
No constitutional rights taken away??? Obviously, you haven’t been listening. Tell you what, let’s keep the same rules in place for six months after Obama takes charge, but this time we get to do it to you, rather than the other way around. After all, you can rest assured that the President can decide for himself who is a terrorist subject to detention and/or rendition, without the benefit of trial, can’t we?
Clinton left the economy in shambles? I guess this is the new Republican strategy. You can’t defend your own performance, so you just make up facts about your opponant to try to make them look worse. Fortunatly, there are objective measures which can be consulted, if you care to do so (obviously, you don’t want to be bothered with facts, as they might inconvenience the conclusions you desire to reach).
I’d keep going, but arguing with an idiot is a waste of time.
@27 “I blame…”
How about blaming yourself?
@29
for what?
16 cmk
Your post contains a whole truckload of crap, which looks to me like it says “Anything bad is becasue of Democrats, and everything good is because of Republicans.” But even you can’t give Bush better than a C, and you are a delusional Bush bootlicker.
But let’s look at a few things:
Last I heard, the executive branch (hey cmk, that’s the president and his people) determines foreign policy and negotiates treaties. Nixon negotiated peace in Vietnam, and the Paris Peace Accord was signed in 1973.
What else did Nixon do? Illegally invaded Cambdia, violated Laotian neutrality by bombing the hell out of Laos, initiated mass civilian bombings in Hanoi and Haiphong because he was pissed that NV leaked details of their peace negotiations. Besides the fact that Nixon himself admitted as early as 1966 that he knew we couldn’t win there, but used the issue politically against his enemies adn escalated anyway. More war criminals for you to admire.
Why do you guys always leave out the part about dozens of people dying from anthrax well AFTER 9/11/2001? We WERE attacked since, pal. Bush has never even come CLOSE to finding the people responsible for this terrorist attack. We have a phrase for that: “at large.” Just like the guys who masterminded the WTC/Pentagn attacks. At large.
Not to mention the many, many, MANY terrorist attacks the world over since Idiot Boy took over and attacked Iraq.
I’ll bet the Bush CLOWNS (as you like to put it) who are trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed can’t even get a conviction in their military kangaroo court.
It will be a good day for America when president Obama takes office. Maybe you can shoot yourself to commemorate it.
Well, I really don’t know exactly what to say about oil. I think maybe this isn’t a speculative bubble after all; maybe we’re up against supply constraints. There are growing indications of that.
That’s not the same thing as peak oil. The industry disinvested in the 80s and 90s because oil was cheap and didn’t generate enough cash flow to go after expensive new sources.
There are a lot of anomalies in the current market, though. For example, Exxon is investing their enhanced cash flow in stock buybacks, not new exploration or development of super-expensive oilfields. That’s a signal that Exxon management believes oil isn’t going to stay above $100 and investing in oil that costs $80 to extract will be a money loser a few years out.
The only meaningful hard fact in the whole situation is that global production has remained stuck at 85 million barrels since 2005, while demand grew above that level. This is what’s causing the price spike; there’s not new supply to fill the new demand, so prices will go up until demand is dampened enough to bring demand into line with existing supplies. Whatever it takes — $100, $130, $150, $200.
In the long run, there are alternatives to oil above the $40 to $50 price point. But it will take decades to build the infrastructure and ramp up production to replace massive amounts of oil with alternative fuels. In the meantime, we’re hostage to the oil supply-demand curve.
Another thing we can say for certain is that the idiots who so fervently believe free markets cure all ills were just plain stupid when they pooh-poohed conservation and thought cheap gas meant we could burn as much of it as we wanted to without consequences.
The best analogy for this free-market religion is nature. Yes, nature will cure overpopulation. When there’s too many people for the available food supply, nature — like free markets — will solve the problem. With starvation.
Anyone who thinks that’s an acceptable substitute for long-range planning that uses human intelligence to avoid such outcomes has the ethics of wild beasts — i.e., none.
Well, here’s my solution. Don’t let people who prefer to let nature or free markets take care of the problem run things. Don’t put them in charge of anything. Don’t elect them to anything. Period. Instead, let’s choose to be led by people who believe in being masters of our destiny, instead of letting destiny master us.
27 RS
Yes, maybe if we can triple the amount of carbon we’re dumping into the atmosphere, I can have that oceanfront property in Portland, OR I’ve had my eye on.
rhp @ 23 – you say “you are trying to set it up for Obama to take the blame if gas prices don’t come down within a few weeks of his inaugeration”
No not at all, but I noticed you gave me 2 completely different opionions in 1) you say the oil companies were able to lower prices drastically by the push of politics, then 2) say it will take years to fix the price of oil issue. Yet Obama will have full control along with dem controlled house and senate. So the oil companies will have no more republican push in their back pockets. When I hear people claiming it’s all Bush and Cheney’s fault, I read into that as once they are gone the oil companies will be forced to lower prices.
So I was asking basically (my favorite saying) Which is it? Is oil price ruled by whack job Bush and will drop drastically once he has no pull? Or is it something else?
Right Stuff @ 27: Sorry, but the different state standards aren’t the problem that some have tried to make them out to be.
Refineries make lots of different blends anyway. The refinery in Anacortes makes virtually all of the gasoline supplied to ALL of the gas stations in the Pacific Northwest – regardless of brand or grade. So every time you buy Shell or Chevron or Arco gas, and you see the signs where they advertise that somehow their gas is “special”, remember that it all comes from the same place, with a slightly different blend (or not). When one truck had water in it and then dumped contaminated gasoline into tanks at six different stations a couple of weeks ago, I think it was three different brands which were affected – from a single truck.
The nonsense we hear about gas prices going up because of the “seasonal” switchover is just that – nonsense. Refineries routinely handle a lot bigger problems. It’s just a convenient excuse to blame higher prices on a regulatory requirement which they would rather not have to deal with.
(Note & fair disclosure: I worked for a major oil company’s regional office once).
tODAY.
Gallup:
Obama 48% (+3)
McCain 42% (-4)
Margin of error: ±2%
Rasmussen:
Obama 50% (+4)
McCain 44% (-2)
Margin of error: ±4%
And RHP, we all know how this country works, when Obama takes office the American people WILL be expecting gas prices to miraculously drop in a matter of months.
I think part of that is the MSM shoving down Americans throat that is all Bush/Cheney oil buddies causing these high prices. So people now think as long as we keep McSame out, no more oil buddies in office and prices should drop immediately…narrow thinking it is.
Hannah @ 34:
Simply put:
Oil Companies + Bush + Republican policies equal higher oil prices, greater long-term dependence upon oil.
Oil companies vs. obama vs. Democratic policies = better long term results, but unknown short term result. It might be that oil prices go up temporarily in the short term, while alternate energy sources are brought on line.
So if American people are thinking that Obama is a quick fix, they are indeed mistaken.
It’s a lot like being in a spectacularly bad marriage, where the spouse is abusive, a drunkard and drug addict, and has (unfortunately) access to all the credit cards and the line of credit on the house.
Just because you kick the bum out doesn’t mean it will not take a long time to fix the damage done.
DaddyLove @ 36: I was dissapointed that Obama’s lead wasn’t even bigger. But then, McCain has been campaigning unopposed for the past two months, and Obama is just getting started.
rhp @ 38 – actually a very good way to put it simplistically! So do we know or have any idea yet what the alternative energy policies are?
I have heard them talk about bio-fuels still which Metro has just stopped using here locally, coal to oil, not much on nuclear, some on wind power and solar. I don’t know much about this subject and with gas prices being so high and demand ever increasing world wide I’d like to learn more.
Like RR said, until they start pumping more oil, prices will continue to climb as demand climbs.
A little over a week ago my son was in a car accident, hit by a drunk driver while he was on his way home from work. He was still driving the 1993 Subaru we bought for his sister when she was in high school. He’s okay, some aches & pains, but nothing serious. The car, however, was totalled.
So this past weekend we went car shopping. I think he should get a used car, simply because I don’t think he should have car payments which he can’t discharge in less than a year. But he likes the idea of a new car, and since he’s an adult and has a good job, it’s his decision.
Anyway, I was amazed at the number of people at the Honda dealership. Every salesman was busy. When we got to talk with one, he explained that everyone was trying to trade in for higher milage cars. He offered to make us a great deal on a used V-8, as his manager had instructed them not to take any more in trade (they already had too many on the lot). Also, V6 engines were coming down in price – although they usually ad $1,500 to $2,000 to the price of a new car, they might soon be equal in value (other options, such as sun roofs and leather seats which come with V6, offset their lesser desirability in fuel milage).
Anyway, interesting consumer behavior in what otherwise seems to be a rescessionary market.
RHP
Good to know re: refining.
So if we’re good to go with all the different blends….
We need to increase production of the raw material.
That means exploring and drilling.
Daddy Love. I’m not a MMGW alarmist…. We will not agree on this one… As a matter of fact, where can we get some of that MMGW around here? sure would like to BBQ and enjoy the summer…
Nuclear Power? We should be doing that now.
43 RS
Re: Anthropocentric global climate change (AGCC)
The first step of your 12 is admitting that you have a problem.
The second step is educating yourself. Instead of WorldNetDaily, read some of the REAL data at http://www.ip[cc.ch. This is not a diss; I don’t know what you really read for information, but it likely has no good information on climate change. Here’s a good start: the AR4 Synthesis Report “Summary for Policymakers.” (PDF)
Nuclear power has real problems with the very, very long half-life of nuclear waste, but in general, I agree.
Poor right stuff – you have absolutely no logic to what you are writing.
Increasing production won’t help – ANWR will supply (at best) one years worth of gas for American cars. A 50% reduction in gas use – will give us a minimum 25 more years.
Nuclear power – some solution. Where will you put the waste? How expensive will that be in the future? Are you willing to put nuclear waste in your neighborhood? If not – than quit promoting nuclear waste.
We need new technologies and better use of the gasoline we have. We need mass transit and a Manhattan project for energy. We need government leadership and republicans have none of that – all they have is corruption and ineptness..
rhp @ 42 – Glad to hear your son was not critically injured by that irresponsible drunk driver!
Right Stuff @ 43: Well, I wouldn’t exactly say “good to go” as far as refining. It’s been an awfully long time since any of the U.S. oil companies have done anything about their refining capacity, either in terms of building new refineries, expansion of capacity, or simply refurbishment to more modern equipment.
They are living off the investments made decades earlier, and there are NO PLANS for any changes.
Either they are being very short-sighted, and willing to buy long-term problems in return for short-term earnings games, or they think U.S. consumption will drop over the long term.
@45
“We need new technologies and better use of the gasoline we have.”
OK, gunna pull those new fangled “technologies” out of your butt?
The point is, there is a lake of oil in ANWR, we should get it. Expand exploration and drilling off the coasts, use the resources we have…..ie: control our own fate.
If new “technologies” are ten years away, then good, can’t wait, until then, gas please, get the oil…
@47 RHP
Well my question is. Understanding that oil companies haven’t added refining capacity, wouldn’t that indicate that we’re not at 100% capacity load? So then we are left with, a lack of raw materials….
If we are at 100%, how much “regulation” is there that makes investment cost prohibitive?
I do know that as a country we are not utilizing our reasources to their full extent… And that is a shame….
Geez, too bad that Cheney’s energy policy, declaring war on Iraq, didn’t work out all that great.
First, as I undertand it, and RR added some fact to this some time before, while no new refineries have been built lately, refinery capacity has been steadily increasing due to improvements in efficiency due to investments in existing infrastructure.
But be that as it may, the problem is not throughput but supply. As RR noted here or elsewhere (I’ve been reading a lot of threads today), supply has been more or less static and demand has been rising sharply. what to do about this is not simple. In the US, our most effective short-term response is to reduce demand. It’s already happening, with people dumping their gas guzzlers for more efficient vehicles. Heck, my wife and I just bought a Smart car.
In the long term, more oil supply is really not the answer, although it wouldn’t hurt. It’s time to transition to the post-oil economy; in fact, way behind time. Whoever is ahead in THIS will be one of the winners in the long term. Time for the USA to get on the fucking bus.
Oooh,mass transit comment! Cool.
Yo Nambla:
Are you typing on a PC made from “renewable” plastic? Or one made from oil? Then you are a hypocrite.
Oh, and please don’t begin to sight a man who stands to make a fortune from inducing fear.
The wise man said: I’ll believe it’s a crisis when the folks who tell me it’s a crisis start acting like it’s a crisis.
algore flies around in the most fuel-inefficient type of aircraft, consumes 20 TIMES the normal energy in his inefficient house, gallivants around the globe having meetings and summits, not online, where he could save massive megawattage and thousands of barrels of oil, but sucks the lifeblood out of America’s resources by being such a hypocrite. Absolutely pathetic.
(GWB uses geothermal energy to heat & cool his house: VERY SMART MAN. He also uses less than 5% of what algore consumes. Who’s the hypocrite?)
And perhaps, most important of all: Global temperatures COOLED by over a degree from 2005 to 2006, again the next year. So far this year, we are on a pace to have the coldest Spring/Summer in the Pac NW in THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS!
How can this be? Surely there’s an error in algore’s “inexhaustable lie”. No. Fact of the matter is that GOD, not man, controls this planet. algore is a man. And like his followers: Weak, wicked, immoral and corrupt.
Weak, wicked, immoral and corrupt.
Truer words were never spoken about the Bush administration and it’s sycophants.
@16 Iraq is more stable than Mexico? Really? Iraq isn’t even a country. It’s a line drawn on a map by British colonialists for their own convenience. Inside that line is three tribes who have hated each other for 3,000 years.
Now, to further emphasize what an idiot you are, let’s talk about AMERICA’S OIL. We’ve used it up, dumbshit! America was the first country to be explored for oil. America is the most intensely explored real estate on earth. America’s big oilfields were discovered 100 years ago. Where do you think all the oil we used in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s came from? U.S. oil production has been falling since 1970. We now import 60% of our oil. There isn’t enough oil left in the ground in America to meet our consumption needs.
Let’s say we cast environmental values to the wind and opened up ANWR. It will take 10 years to get the first drop of ANWR oil to the market. And because of where it’s located, we’ll export a lot of it to Asia. And although it’s a large field — 7 to 12 billion barrels — it would supply U.S. consumption for only 15 months. And it’s not cheap oil, either; ANWR oil will cost at least $50 to $60 a barrel just to get it out of the ground.
You are a dummy. World oil demand is expected to grow by 50% by 2025. World oil production is the same as it was in 2005. The industry isn’t producing more oil because it can’t. Where is the oil for growth going to come from? Short answer: It isn’t. We have fallen behind the discovery curve; i.e., we are now discovering less oil than we’re using. We need to shift to other energy sources and technologies, starting right now. If we don’t, our civilization is going to be up Shit Creek.
Liberals: Why is gas so high? Hmmm…? So your crowd can do something they can’t legislate – get cars off the road. Work on global warming. Make people use public transportation. Have les gas used. Have you noticed our consumption is down yet NYMEX bids the oil barrel higher?
It figgers a moron like bybygoober can’t figger it out. But others shock me.
And by the way, since the libs have had us sitting on our hands these last 30 years with their kow-tow to the sierra club and others, China is slant drilling our oil out of the ground in the gulf of mexico. Oh you want proof. I posted that Puddyfact 5 weeks ago.
Thanks liberals
Liberals like Pelletizer talk about ANWR like we’re going to use it all at once. We use it to supplement our Middle East oil moron!
Why are we behind the exploration curve? We know where there is more oil. Liberals throw up road block after road block to inhibit the oil removal. ANWR could have been online if liberals were smart. Now you liberals are paying the high price of gas too. Good job!
rhp6033: Every president talks up the economy. So you want a president to come on national tv and say: “I agree with rhp6033 from Everett. Our economy sucks my Fellow Americans. We’re in the tank. Let’s be gloomy out there today. You job could be the next to go!”
Puddy # 57: It’s true that a President has to be careful not to create a “self-fullfilling prophecy”. But virtually every previous president in modern times has had to walk the line between being honest with the American people, recognizing that problems exist, and expressing confidence that those problems can be overcome, with effort.
But Bush exhibited here a pattern which tends to be a trademark of his Presidency:
1. In the earliest stages, Bush refuse to acknowledge that current trends or policies will create a problem.
2. As the problem manifests itself, Bush attacks those who point out that the problem is actually occuring.
3. As the problem becomes an obvious public-relations disaster, Bush expresses “confidence” that continued adherence to his policies will solve the very problems which his policies created.
4. Once it is clear to everyone that there is a wide disparity between his statements and reality, Bush attempts to solve the “public-relations” part of this problem (without addressing the problem itself) by expressing his “concern”.
Whatever the problem – Iraq, Katrina response, credit crisis, budget deficit, oil prices, etc., the Bush administration’s responses have followed this same template.
@54 Roger you are wrong.
800 billion barrels in oil shale deposits in Colorado & Wyoming
Plus more in North Dakota.
http://minnesota.publicradio.o...../10/ndoil/
And democrats have lost all rights to bitch about oil and gas prices with this move.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/0.....2008060617
Seriously. STFU.
And given the vote in the Senate to block oil shale recovery in Colorado, Democrats should just STFU. You lost any right to complain with that move. 15-14 vote along party lines to maintain a moratorium on oil shale development.
.
Wow ANWR and Bakken amount to two years of current U.S. consumption!
And shale? Are there any producing shale fields? That’s an environmental disaster in the making. Huge costs, highly uneconomic.
7 billion barrels of oil per year. Some pretty hard thinking has to be done to crack this problem.
One guy took a crack at it. Far from perfect, but the outlines of a solution is there.
http://ergosphere.blogspot.com.....e-and.html
The ONLY thing Rabbit has EVER been right about is the boondoggle that is (un)Sound Transit.
Other than that, he’s Post Toasties. Wasted. Too high to recover. Drain-bamaged.
No doubt he’s using a plastic (made from oil) keyboard to enter his excrement into an oil-based PC where it will route through oil-based components to this blog. What a hypocrite. Typical of the liberal left.
Conservatives discovered and refined oil and every day create new uses for this wonder material. Yet the luddites on the left wanna go back to the stone age and deny oil was ever the foundation for America’s greatest achievements.
The ONLY thing Rabbit has EVER been right about
He’s got one on you then.
63
Yeah, it’s so hypocritical to use anything made from petroleum-based materials to criticize an economy built almost entirely on petroleum at a time when supply cannot keep up with demand and global climate change due to fossil-fuel emissions threatens our way of life.
And I thought conservatives could not longer surprise me with their stupidity and ignorance. Thanks for the reminder.
Bakken has 4.3 billion barrels accessible TODAY. The field is estimated to hold anywhere between 175 and 500 Billion barrels of oil.
http://www.nextenergynews.com/.....2.13s.html
Royal Dutch Shell invested millions of R&D dollars in a process that will extract oil from oil shale. Let them do it or stop bitching about high gas prices.
delbert @ 66 – get used to high prices they have gone up to $4.00 + when just in January 2007 it was $2.29 national wide average
Oil is not the answer – it’s the charitable collection point for terrorists and their sympathizier.
It’s time to start Jimmy Carter’s 2nd term who saw the coming disaster unlike the 3rd worst president in history Ronald Reagan.
Bush 43 is obviously the worst followed by Nixon, Reagan, then Bush 41. All dishonorable pieces of shit each and every one of them.
Can’t wait to change the name of the national airport after the first African-American president leaves office in Jan. 2017.
@68 It seems that many of us learned very little from the gas crisis of the 1970’s. I never imagined back in the day that thirty years later I would see something like a gas-guzzling Hummer and all the other SUV’s on the road, all driven as commuter vehicles.
66 – How many times do I say it before it sinks in. 4.3 billion is nothing. Not nearly a year’s worth of consumption. To extract the rest is going to cost what?
That website is hardly credible.
It’s a huge pain in the butt to deal with tar sands and Venezuela’s sour crude. Shale is totally worse than that by far.
I’m not complaining about high prices. I welcome them. People are finally going to think hard about the choices they’ve made and stop wasting the stuff.
Remember that even if we put all our cars on alternative energy, we will still need oil for plastics, fertilizer, etc.
So perhaps we should keep the hard-to-drill areas in Alaska and offshore in reserve for now, because we might really, really, really need them later.
Or we can sell oil to the Chinese for $200 per gallon, after we have converted to electric cars and they are all trying to get by on their gas-powered vehicles they produced just a few years before.
By the way, if you liked strip-mining for coal, you are going to LOVE trying to get oil out of shale. Can you say “moonscape”????
The future:
$3.83 (Canadian for a week of driving)
http://wheels.ca/reviews/article/256058
YMMV