Posted on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 08:07 — by BBrentwood
With Oil becoming scarcer and gasoline prices going thru the roof.....8$ per gallon predicted in just one or 2yrs Americas National Security is at risk per prominent think tanks researching the problem. Food costs and transportation for the food also factor in to higher costs, inflation and our economy hitting each and every one of us.
WHAT THE HELL CAN BE DONE?? ALOT BY OUR PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS PLEASE WRITE TO THEM AND STRESS THE URGENCY OF THE OIL CRISES.
1. Gut all evironmental standards in the name of National Security and drill immediately in Anwar, AK, of fthe CA, Fl and East Coast and anywhere else there is oil. Let Americans and the big oil companies drill anywhere........use Federal money to build more refineries at empty military bases across America.
2. Mandate a National fuel standard...no more special fuel, all states will use the same gas, including wacko CA that pays the most for gasoline due to liberals..... gerrymandering with the fuel standards in our State. Abolish all gas taxes {about 50cents per gal in CA}until prices can be normalized....
3. Make mandatory the use of a National Fuel Standard, which would put a chip in every car enabling the cars to switch between gasoline, ethanal, butanol and other alcohal based fuels, lessening our demand for crude oil, and increasing our National Security due to less dependence on hostile and Terrorist freindly nations in the Mideast. America has the technology now to put the chip run gadget, estimated to cost $100 in every car and all imported cars in America.........
4. Stop all shipments of grains and corn to other nations. Hoard and build up reserves to be converted to ethanal and grain alcohal to be used as fuel.
DRASTIC MEASURES ARE NEEDED TO PROTECT AMERICA, THE TERRORISTS WILL STRIKE AGAIN WHEN WE ARE WEAKENED AND THERE ARE SHORTAGES OF FUEL WHICH IS NEEDED TO GET FLEEING MASSES OUT OF OUR LARGEST CITIES AFTER BIOLOGICAL, OR NUCLEAR ATTACKS....ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME PER THE FBI AND HOMELAND SECURITY before another large attack on an American city......
SHOULDN'T WE BE PREPARED???? J.
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 321
Makes you wonder how much worse things will be with a
President: Obama, Hillery, or McCain in cahoots with a Democratic congressional politburo on the issues of energy and fuel prices.
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 821
There is no shortage of supply.
Demand is the same today as it was a year ago.
No oil from ANWR for ten years; amount it will deliver is small. What's wrong with off-shore drilling?
Or what about all the capped wells throughout Texas & Oklahoma and even in California that all could still be producing?
Are refineries working to full capacity?
If it costs $20 to pump a barrel of crude out of the ground and the future's market adds $40 to the cost, what changes that adds $120 to the cost?
How many permits for new refineries in the US have been filed with EPA since 1975?
How many cases of fraudulent futures trading have been investigated by either the FTC or the CFTC since 1975? Who was Director of the FTC until 2005? Who was Chair of the CFTC in 1992 when Enron received its loophole in regulation of said futures market (the same loophole that relaxed regulation of the crude oil futures market, or opened the door for subprime lending/bundling etc etc etc? Where did that Chair go to work when Bill Clinton became President and appointed a new Chair? Who is John McCain's assistant campaign director and probably Secretary of the Treasury should McCain get elected?
Is there really an oil crisis? Or has the crisis been manufactured by Big Oil? Remember, no one really believed Enron (with its very close ties to the Bush family) would ever swindle the state of California and its own employees out of billions of dollars ...
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 212
It looks as though we have the ravages of the oil speculators now being combined with a new cutoff on the supply side. I suppose the futures market is howling with glee over this latest event guaranteed to drive up the price at the pump.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i-tzMkcpZ5Yv1ItYCvXWzkFChM4w
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 821
Of course. Because everyone else blames the environmentalists ... and speculators can gamble with our futures because they can buy a home in a safe and secure place while the rest of us go belly-up.
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 212
There is a law called the US Commodity Exchange Act which was passed by Congress to insure that there would be oversight to prevent market manipulations such as we see now with oil and energy. The body that regulates commodities trading is called the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Since the creation of electronic trading a new beast has raised its ugly head called OTC electronic exchange that is unregulated ala the Commodities Futures Modernization Act 2000. This law was passed by the 106 Congress at the behest of Enron and the product of that law is something called futures look-alikes that are totally unregulated and un-investigated by anyone.
What we have now is the free market at work gouging for every nickel it can manipulate out of the American public. I would also say that it will become a national security issue if we could ever get Congress to pull its mouth off of the nipple of big oil and wake up to the fact that while they ingratiate themselves with the oil companies the rest of the Market is falling apart.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8878
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 821
The act you referenced merely codified administrative changes that were made in 1992 by the Chair of the CFTC -- Wendy Gramm. The CFTC exempted Enron (and a few other oil and gas futures traders) from being regulated in their commodities trading. This exemption gave Enron the green light to manipulate electricity futures ... things like holding back delivery of wattage until the futures market rose to a high plateau (a market controlled by insiders connected to Enron), then selling -- often shipping the same electricity back and forth between Arizona and California to increase its market price, as well. Five weeks after making that Executive Decision, Wendy Gramm was appointed to the Board of Directors of ... well, shucks, how'd you know? ... Enron.
Here's yet another of those strange coincidences of American politics. Kenneth Lay was the Chair of the Phil Gramm for President Commitee. And just who do you think is the chief economic advisor for the John McCain campaign?
Phil Gramm!
Futures Trading Practices Act of 1992
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 821
Some facts to consider before listening to mouthpieces of corporatocracy:
On the Outer Continental Shelf, 82% of all federally controlled natural gas and 79% of all oil is located in areas currently open for leasing
Onshore, 62% of oil and 84% of natural gas resources are either fully accessible under standard lease stipulations, or will be available pending completion of EIR planning.
Between 1999 and 2007, drilling permits for oil and gas development on public lands have increased 361%
Since 2004, BLM has issued 28,776 permits to drill on public land; in that same time, only 18,9545 wells have been drilled.
Offshore, only 10.5 million acres of the 44 million leased acres are producing gas or oil.
Combined, oil and gas companies already hold leases to 68,000,000 acres of federal land that are NOT producing oil or gas.
That 68 million acres could produce 4.8 million barrels of oil per day, and 44.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas. That would almost DOUBLE the total US oil production, and increase natural gas production by 75%. The 4.8 million barrels of oil is more than 6 times the estimated peak production of ANWR. Development and production of oil and gas from land currently leased but not producing would cut US oil imports by 1/3.
Then there is the 1.5 million acres of the 19.2 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) that requires Congressional authorization before drilling may proceed there. In addition to ANWR, there are another 91 million acres currently open to leasing in the Arctic region of Alaska, including onshore and offshore lands. Oil and gas companies have leased only 11.8 million of these acres. In the rest of Alaska is a territory identified as the National Petroleum Reserve. Oil and gas companies have leased only 3 million acres of the 22.6 million acres that are available to them for lease. No production has occurred on ANY of these lands, and the companies have drilled only 25 exploratory wells there since 2000.
It will take 8-10 years after opening ANWR before oil is produced from any new wells (US Energy Information Administration). Beyond that, it would be 20 years before production reached a peak, estimated at only 780,000 barrels per day. Production at that level would drop within five years. Production from ANWR will indeed reduce US crude oil imports – but not until 2022-2026, and then only a few percentage points.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 239
"Oh what a tangled web they weave, when they set out to deceive.
Cut and paste stats and DEM soundbites.....don't compute.........
Both China and India are now consuming large amounts of gasoline with their middle classes purchasing cars. That is a verifiable fact. As for your solution of doing nothing since it will take 8yrs to get oil out of Anwar, that is an idiot "liberal mouthpiece soundbite". So we should do nothing?? If the wacko environmentalists did not have their way the last 20yrs, we would have oil flowing out of wells all over the US, and not be dependent on foreign nations at this point.
Do you not think that incentives could speed the oil drilling process along?? The demand at 4.80 per gallon has already lit a fire under wildcatter oil men in TX. Closed wells are being reopened to get every last drop of oil out.
You should take an Economics course will all that free time you have, it will enlighten you on how our economy and supply and demand work
For the record I think we need more alternative forms of energy developed in unison, while we drill, drill drill. Along with nuclear power plants across America, to meet the demands from all the effects of "Global warning". How will we recharge all those Priuses?? France is producing so much electricity from its nuclear plants that it now exports it to other EU nations. The non-logic oriented liberals seem to forget the increased demand created for electricity for all those Priuses has to come from somewhere 
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 51
Oil and gasoline are what kind of resource?
Thats right, NONRENEWABLE! Sorry for my sarcastic tone, I've been reading to many Clayton posts this afternoon!
The point is, oil will always be scarse because thats the way the Big Oil producers want it to be. Basic supply and demand, and they control supply and we perpetuate demand. Its a dirty downward spiral.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't own a Prius and I think electrical power is a joke. The amount of money we invest now in drilling takes away from money we could invest in nuclear research, etc etc. I whole-heartedly agree we need to start exploring new ways to power our homes, cities, and vehicles. And the sooner we do it, and forget our silly dependance on oil, the better off we all will be.
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 821
Interesting that you would mention China ... the Great Red Menace (that is outcapitalism-ing us ... but can do it ever so much better because it is a dictatorship and people there don't have much say in how the corporatocracy is run). But dang it, there's just one little problem with China ... it's supposedly a workers' state and so it has these confounded little groups called "unions" that keep reminding the leadership that it's supposed to be leading the workers off to some proletarian nirvana, and so the wages paid to Chinese laborers and factory workers keep rising (so they can buy cars and use gasoline, of course). As a result, there is an exodus of investment and business partnerships from China by corporations like Canon or Hanes, who are finding that VIETNAM is an even cheaper place to do business, and also is lining up to take a shot at doing the dictatorship/capitalist route. Even more symbolic, Jerry Springer and one of the Spice Girls recently emceed the Miss Universe Pageant from Hanoi!
Don't you just think the 56,000 (ish) people whose names are on that Wall are just pleased as punch that they gave their lives so Jerry Springer could host a take-down night in Hanoi for Ms Venezuela?
But I digress.
I have not said "do nothing" (nor have any "liberals"). That's merely the sound of your own inner voice repeating only what it wants to hear. Me and most liberals whose words I actually listen to and/or read (as opposed to running them through the Rupert Murdoch filtering mechanism known as FauxNews) have said ... pay close attention and read my lips ... before giving the oil companies even more public land, require them to explore and drill on the land they have already been given access to (that contains at least 84-85% of the known oil we have access to). IF taking it out of the ground is such a big deal, and will make it possible for you to continue driving whatever it is that you drive whereever you want, whenever you want ... then why haven't they tried taking it out of the ground where they have already been issued permits and there are no so-called environmental obstacles in their way?
Did you listen to der Leader's press conference the other day? In it, he admitted that there is no relief in the price at the pump by eliminating the ban on off-shore drilling ... there won't be any oil for 8-10 years, and it won't have any affect. But it will change "the attitudes" of Americans! It will take (hehehe) the "psychology" of Americans!
And there you go ... the solution that your President (mouthpiece for Big Oil if ever there was one) offers is not a real solution (nothing will change), but a mental one! Get a life. Be happy, don't worry. When you factor in the words of the principle economic advisor of the presumptive Republican candidate for President, our problem also is "mental" ... we are in a "mental" recession. And whining about it, to boot! It has nothing to do with liberals or the environmentalists -- we've all just gone soft and all we need is the ILLUSION that things might someday get better and we will therefore feel better.
Tell me something ... where are these wildcatters going to send their oil? Whose going to refine it for them? In other words, who ultimately controls every single drop of oil coming out of the ground? Do you think there is even the slightest possibility that the idea of holding some of it back might not have crossed the minds of Big Oil Executives? Do you not think that the cynical manipulation of entire states by Enron did not go unnoticed by people controlling vast amounts of highly desirable resources?
I don't need an Economics course if the net result of it is to end up brainwashed and sold a bill of goods like you. You seem to believe the fairy tale that the market isn't gamed, that commodities are not purposefully limited to increase demand. Remember -- regulation of these corporate behemoths whose operating budget exceeds that of all but the most affluent and powerful industrial nations is something we have essentially stopped doing since Reagan. And I bet you're one of those who want to privatize EVERYTHING.
Looks to me that the chickens are coming home to roost on your deregulated bed.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 379
Interesting comments. But a possible ray of light is coming thru the internet.
http://www.zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=584
Our old friend, electrolysis, is getting the attention of garage mechanics around the world who are generating Brown's gas and feeding it back into their cars' fuel intake to boost mileage (after adjusting their cars' computers). Their inspiration is Stan Meyers, who created a gas-on-demand dune buggy that drove down the road at normal speeds and was estimated to take a little over 2 gallons of water to go from coast to coast. Stan Meyers staggered out of a restaurant, exclaiming he'd been poisoned, and dropped dead in the parking lot. An autopsy stated he died of a brain aneurism. His car disappeared.
Now his story is available on YouTube and the race is on to figure out the electronics that boosted hydrogen production past the zero point. And these worldwide erstwhile inventors are recording their successes and failures and presenting them on the 'net as an informal collaboration.Meyers may have found the right frequency by effort and luck, but there is an effort to arrive at and adjust the frequencies due to variances in the process.
Per the QueenOfThe Road, Sandia Labs is in complete denial. (After all, how could their corporate backers control energy derived from tap water?) They are still trying to promote the obsolete belief that it is impossible to create energy from water without a net energy loss.
RealAmerica
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 821
Cool!
Of course, though solar panels cost money to build and install, once in place it's going to be awful difficult to charge for the sun. Intel is investing heavily right outside of Portland in a major solar panel assembly plant. Then there's the Pickens' Plan (http://www.pickensplan.com/). Invest in wind (and solar and geothermal) and eliminate petroleum imports while switching over to natural gas and biofuel. In terms of biofuel, some are becoming aware of the value of sorghum (as opposed to corn). I have an even better solution ... though it is going to take a whole new mentality to break down very high barriers:
HEMP!
It can be grown in marginal areas and doesn't require prime farmland. The quality increases with the amount of water you give it, but a lot of it can be grown with not much water. It has a gazillion industrial and commercial uses.