[quote]Varqanir wrote:
I’m not sure what it has to do with the price of crude in Kuwait… 
[/quote]
Just responding to the mini-debate spawned by:
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
“The doctors will never eradicate illness, nor the policemen crime, nor the social workers poverty, nor the clergymen sin: their livelihoods depend upon the perpetual existence of each.”
[/quote]
Currently, ExxonMobil has donated over $600,000 to political candidates - second only to Koch Industries, a small oil company known for its high spending on Congressional candidates. The oil industry clearly favors republicans to push its agenda on Capitol Hill and ExxonMobil is no exception. In 2006, 89 percent of ExxonMobil’s donations went to republicans.
Records filed with the Senate Public Records Office show that Exxon lobbyists focus most of their time on bills that address energy, global warming, environmental rules, and foreign policy. Targets of Exxon lobbyists are not just members of Congress, but nearly every agency as well.
In 2005 alone, Exxon reported lobbying the State Department, White House, Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Department, Office of Management and Budget, Department of the Interior, and the Transportation Department.
The 2005 Energy Bill is a prime example of how political dollars translate into legislation.
The Energy Bill, in effect until 2010, authorized $4 billion in federal subsidies to the oil and gas industry.
Deepwater Drilling. ExxonMobil is the self-declared leader in deepwater oil and gas, which it claims will account for 20 percent or more of its production by 2010. The Energy Bill dolled out $1.5 billion in oil subsidies for ultra-deepwater activities.
Tax Royalty Relief. Oil companies supposedly pay a royalty to the government for the privilege of extracting resources off public land owned by all Americans. The Energy Bill dolled out billions worth of unnecessary ?royalty relief? for ExxonMobil and other oil and gas companies.
Ironically, Exxon has already settled several lawsuits for $52 million for not paying or underpaying royalties. In Alabama Exxon was found guilty of royalty fraud and fined $3.6 billion, which the company has appealed since 2000.
LNG: Liquefied Natural Gas permits. ExxonMobil plans to build at least two new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Texas. Yet, when ExxonMobil wanted to build a LNG facility in Alabama in 2003 it faced vociferous opposition from the locals who were concerned about potential health hazards and by Republican Governor Bob Riley.
The Governor demanded that an independent safety assessment be done before the project went forward. A year later ExxonMobil canceled its plans. The 2005 Energy Bill changed the rules so that the state no longer has the right to determine the location of LNG facilities. Instead, location assessments will be done by federal agencies, which are typically more industry-friendly.
Public health laws. Laws under the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act used in the permitting of LNG facilities and natural gas pipelines were also weakened by the Bill. It is now vastly easier for ExxonMobil to get approval for its LNG facilities ? despite legitimate objections from the state or local community.
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
I’m the son of a truck driver and Army sergeant from WWII.
Forgive me, Headhunter, I simply cannot resist.
Was your mother the truck driver or the Army sergeant?[/quote]
LOL! In one of the oddest marriages in history, my father (about as proletarian as they come) married my mom, a physicist. She died when I was 4 from leukemia, probably associated with all the atomic shit she was exposed to during the war.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Anticipation to the invasion of Iran.
Maybe…more likely a bombing campaign to take out the nukes.[/quote]
Or a nuking campaign to take out the bombs.
[quote]Marmadogg wrote:
Hydrogen is made from natural gas.
[/quote]
You cannot make hydrogen. But you can extract it. The easiest way is by electrolysis (using electrodes and electrical current). Splicing H2O (water) into H2 (hydrogen) and O2 (oxygen) gases.
Maybe you can strip hydrogen from the natural gas molecules, could be more efficient. But from water is the simplest method.
Gas prices have been rising faster than inflation, this can only mean we are rapidly running out of fossil fuels. Time to bring the solar, nuclear, hydro power out!
Nuclear is definitely the way to go. The trouble is that those whom cheap energy would benefit the most, the poorer nations, are often unstable politically. The more advanced countries don’t trust the scenario. If only someone would develop fusion as a viable energy source…
Two words: Richard Cheney.
Or, since we “went into Iraq to get oil” how come the supply hasn’t increased?
Signed,
Idiots.
In all seriousness, I want all the democrats on this board to write their Senators the next time there is a serious discussion about increasing domestic oil supply.
When the fools start their holier-than-thou “you can’t drill and spoil the wildlife” I want you to read between the lines. Find out if the drilling would truly affect the wildlife or if it’s just another political smokescreen.
If you find that you don’t like relying on foreign oil reserves and don’t like paying for higher prices, think about writing your Senators.
If enough democrats (and a few Republicans) demanded less reliance on foreign oil, things would accelerate.
Demand more refineries. Demand more domestic drilling.
Otherwise, quit complaining and take it like a punk.
JeffR
[quote]JeffR wrote:
Two words: Richard Cheney.
Or, since we “went into Iraq to get oil” how come the supply hasn’t increased?
[/quote]
Because they are really, really bad at what they are doing?
[quote]JeffR wrote:
Two words: Richard Cheney.
Or, since we “went into Iraq to get oil” how come the supply hasn’t increased?
Signed,
Idiots.
In all seriousness, I want all the democrats on this board to write their Senators the next time there is a serious discussion about increasing domestic oil supply.
When the fools start their holier-than-thou “you can’t drill and spoil the wildlife” I want you to read between the lines. Find out if the drilling would truly affect the wildlife or if it’s just another political smokescreen.
If you find that you don’t like relying on foreign oil reserves and don’t like paying for higher prices, think about writing your Senators.
If enough democrats (and a few Republicans) demanded less reliance on foreign oil, things would accelerate.
Demand more refineries. Demand more domestic drilling.
Otherwise, quit complaining and take it like a punk.
JeffR[/quote]
American oil making a significant impact on the world market is not realistic.
The entire estimated reserve in Alaska(10.4 billion barrels) would supply the US for only about eighteen months and this is about half of the entire country’s reserve. The entire U.S. oil reserve would only supply current world demand for about eight months.
I’m not opposed to what you suggest but it is not going to do anything to change our reliance on foreign oil or affect prices to any great degree. The only way we could reduce our reliance on foreign oil is to reduce our reliance on oil itself.
I think reducing our demand for oil is what we should actually be demanding from our lawmakers but it is an idea that time has just not yet come but it is getting closer.
[quote]orion wrote:
JeffR wrote:
Two words: Richard Cheney.
Or, since we “went into Iraq to get oil” how come the supply hasn’t increased?
Because they are really, really bad at what they are doing?[/quote]
Not using the Iraqi oil to fund the reconstruction.
What does that tell (even) you?
But, nice try.
JeffR
I didn’t think crude was the issue, the problem was a lack of refineries.
[quote]JeffR wrote:
orion wrote:
JeffR wrote:
Two words: Richard Cheney.
Or, since we “went into Iraq to get oil” how come the supply hasn’t increased?
Because they are really, really bad at what they are doing?
Not using the Iraqi oil to fund the reconstruction.
What does that tell (even) you?
But, nice try.
JeffR
[/quote]
It tells me they would need to restore order to do that.
So whatever evil plans they might have had are spoiled.
You implied that they could not be evil because of it, I pointed out that they also could be evil AND incompetent.
[quote]nephorm wrote:
I didn’t think crude was the issue, the problem was a lack of refineries. [/quote]
A lot of them stood in the way of Kathrina
[quote]orion wrote:
nephorm wrote:
I didn’t think crude was the issue, the problem was a lack of refineries.
A lot of them stood in the way of Kathrina[/quote]
Don’t argue with JeffR!!! He’s SuperRepub! He knows all! And he loves saying,“Nice try!” He is a douche sucking Cheney loving pud
[quote]nephorm wrote:
I didn’t think crude was the issue, the problem was a lack of refineries. [/quote]
Domestic refineries can only handle ‘sweet’ oil.
Not only do we need more refineries but we need refineries that can process the darker, stinkier oil which is cheaper and more plentiful.
Conservation will happen on way or another.
Any Canadians from Alberta here? Do you know how much of your domestic oil production is coming from the oil sands, and what the cost of refining is compared to refining liquid crude?
[quote]Marmadogg wrote:
nephorm wrote:
I didn’t think crude was the issue, the problem was a lack of refineries.
Domestic refineries can only handle ‘sweet’ oil.
Not only do we need more refineries but we need refineries that can process the darker, stinkier oil which is cheaper and more plentiful.
Conservation will happen on way or another.[/quote]
The Limosine Libs at the Sierra Club have managed to make it nearly impossible to build a refinery here. We will have pristine skies and trout in our rivers (which they want) but everyone will ride a bike and planes/boats/cars will be reserved for those elites, which is one of the main reasons for environmentalism anyway.
The anti-industrial revolution continues…
I’m sick of people bitching about gas prices. Compare to how much any other thing like cough syrup or some other product and gas isn’t that expensive.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
We will have pristine skies and trout in our rivers, but everyone will ride a bike and planes/boats/cars will be reserved for those elites, which is one of the main reasons for environmentalism anyway.[/quote]
"In the world I see - you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You’ll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You’ll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower.
And when you look down, you’ll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway."
Ayn Rand would have a conniption if she ever met Tyler Durden.