We love to blame Saudi for our oil problems...but it is our own oil companies that have us by the balls.

In 1986 they produced 8.97 million barrels per day.
In 2006 they produced 5.10 million barrels per day.

So while we are paying unprecedented prices at the pump, and the president is off begging Saudi for more production (the agreed to 300k per day, a drop in the bucket)...our own oil companies are operating at less than 57% of the capacity they did back in 1986!!!

Gee, I wonder if they might be making money off that!!!

why would they increase supply to drive down cost? they are making 300%+ profit on the same commodity and by delivering less they will extend how long they can sell it.

Its not their fault WE are buying big inefficient vehicles and buying everything from china/india's manufacturing base who in turn are building more roads (that takes oil) and more vehicles.

Its OUR FAULT.

liberals/environmental whackos.

Lawsuits vs drilling/refining, lawsuits about goober warning,
dumb ethanol ideas...

vehicles ARE inefficient. Most everything is.

If gov would get the freakin tax off of gasoline and diesel fuel,
you would be surprised how less it would cost.

quote:

If gov would get the freakin tax off of gasoline and diesel fuel,
you would be surprised how less it would cost.

That's right! Then we could use more, put out more greenhouse gasses, stop whining about alternative fuels and recommit to our dependency on the Middle East and a dwindling supply, kill more Arabs and let more American kids die overseas...

I like it. You're a man of great vision, Cal. Maybe we can send only gay soldiers to die?

None of it would matter when we foul the earth and die off anyway, I guess.

you cant take gas taxes away, that is what pays for repair and maintenance. I will give you this ethanol is completely stupid.

I would further even agree with you that drilling and refining can in fact if done correctly have very little impact on the area it is done in. Some of those lawsuits are silly and are counter productive and not based on reality.

That however does not alleviate our personal and cultural habits which are currently contributing to the problem.

The problem is Big Enviromentalism.

Ok.. Now that i got that jab in... let me be serious.

I think we need to have a SMART and LONG TERM look.

1. The Navy has ran nuclear power for YEARS without problems. Why? Because they run smaller plants. I think that is a smart way to go. Run a small plant for each city. There are enough nuc techs out of the navy that are trained well enough to run most of them. This also alleviates the major catastrophe scenarios. Smaller reactors cause smaller problems.

2. Supplement Nuclear power with Off-shore wind mills and impellers where possible.

3. SUpplement Nuclear power with some more dams, except for the dam itself, the power provided is very clean.

4. Allow for the building of refineries and the drilling by oil companies, both offshore and in anwar. The fact is, we have enough oil to last us, the way we are going now, for HUNDREDS of years. New finds in the plain states just increase this.

However, we have to branch out with our power sources. By doing the previous things, we save oil for only transportation.

5. The cost of solar power MUST come down. I looked at putting solar panels on our church (yeah... I really did!) Fact is, it would have cost us over 100,000 dollars. Furthermore, according to our power company, there is NO SELLING OF ENERGY back to the company. Thus, solar power made absolutely NO SENSE for us.

6. Govt. must stay out of legislating cars. The rules they come up with make no sense. For instance, I rebuilt a 67 mustang with parts that were not California legal (didn't live in Cal at the time). The result? My 67 mustang, according to a smog report my mechanic ran, was running cleaner than a new car-- and 4 miles a gallon farther than when it was regularly carbed. (I was overcarbed, and STILL running 22+ miles a gallon. However, I increased the horse power quite a bit. California would not allow for the parts... because of the increased horsepower partly.

Fact is, cars have been de-tuned for power then smog stuff put on them to clean up an engine that isn't burning at its peak... burning more gas.

I have no problem with smogging a car. But don't tell me what I can and cannot put on the car. Let me build my car that is clean burning... because a car that puts out the most horses will also be the most efficent.

7. In my mind, that would be a good beginning.

"sigh"

I used to have a '66 metallic maroon Chevy Belair.
Had 3 on the column and a 250 six. It got 21.5 mpg
all the way to the Central Ontario wilderness, which
included several trips driving on a bumpy jeep trail for 3 1/2
miles.
Then they put pollution control on that engine and made it a 307.

That's 307 times worse than what it used to be.

Bah.

quote:

The problem is Big Enviromentalism.

He's here all week. Try the your waitress, tip the veal.