Oh, yeah.....
Panic has started in Atlanta -- one station as high as $5.87 for the 87-proof variety. The moonbats are crowing about Global Warming and the BushCo/Halliburton conspiracies.This, from a blip in supply from one area of production (approx 8-12 percent of US supply).When are the enviromarxists going to see reason and allow us to build more refineries and drill? I agree with them in that we have got to learn as a society to conserve and be more efficient, but in the meantime, can they agree that we have to be as energy-independent as possible?Those moldy old hippy-music CDs about saving the earth and equality with her creatures won't work very well when the electricity doesn't flow, and you can't afford gas for your generator. And you damn sure won't be getting any new Birkenstocks when the trucks can't roll.
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3 Old Comments:
Laziness pervades the Oil industry. Like any sleeping giant they are really happy to gouge your butt for 5.87 and make their $10 Billion QUARTERLY profits (Exxon Mobile last quarter). It has nothing to do with conspiracy. They will get the money they can from the product they offer.
If they could charge you $10/gallon, they would as long as:
A) they dont get overy bad publicity
B) they dont break a law that someone is willing to enforce or
c) their investors dont cry (which they wont because they are making money) or
d) they dont get regulated. Mind that this is different than being threatend to be regulated...that is how congress informs industry that they have gone too far.
So no one should cry about gas prices. The oil industry execs are very happy where they are at. They sit on the boards of American car makers, who pushed inefficient vehicles for YEARS when gas prices are low, and then BANG, up go the prices. (message: you need an SUV to keep your kids safe)
PAY and shut up.
The answer is not supply. It has always been demand. We are now accelerating our demand WAY beyond our ability to supply. Without an answer to supply questions - gas will continue to rise...
Crazy enviro's aside - we have to conserve. We have to find new ways to power vehicles. We have to adjust to a new reality, one in which China will play a MUCH larger role than Alaska.
Why should we destroy everything for a moments worth of energy? Why should we sacrifice Alaska for our collective laziness?
Money was needed long ago, requested long ago, this problem was KNOWN in the 70's!
Just like our lack of effort to shore up the Levies of New Orleans we have failed to ask the American public to conserve (not popular), failed to invest sufficently in technolgy to help us (more important priorities), and failed to get away from the demands and fears of the oil industry because of its enormous power - both in terms of raw lobbying $$ and in terms of JOBS.
Now that strategy - or lack thereof - is costing us dearly. And no drilling is going to stop that.
Only high gas prices will.
Foston
PS- you wanna know who pays the highest percntage of their budget for gas BTW - oh yeah - those poor sucks on welfare. What used to be 10% of their budget is now 32%. Your money going to the gas company.
Foston --
I'm with you on many points here.
In addition to my original points, I fully agree with you on the conservation issue (see my post "JUST SLOW DOWN").
There is no denying that the oil companies are having record earnings, and that like any business they will maximize their profits when and if at all possible.
That being said, there is a disparity in our production/supply and demand. A major part of this disparity is in the source -- drilling and refining. When we have no ability to upgrade or add existing refineries due to pressure from ill-informed or agenda-driven environmental groups, then all the oil in the world could appear out of thin air and it would do no good. Ditto the multiple blends that different states require. Taxes are also a huge culprit -- it varies from state to state, but I believe anywhere from 20 to 45 percent of gas prices are state, local, and federal taxes (working from memory here).
Yes, the consumer must be smart -- get the Civic, use the cruise, drive speed limits, don't drive needlessly, etc. I think higher prices will begin to affect driving patterns toward this end, but that does not address the fundamental problem.
The fundamental problem IS demand. We must use less. This magical source of oil appearing is not going to happen, so why increase refining capability? So we can use what is left faster and jam all of our demand problems into a shorter timeframe?
Foston
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