This morning while doing some chores around my apartment, I had FoxNews on as the network broadcast the President’s talk In St. Louis.
From a brief few moments, I was impressed by the clarity of his expression (yet did hear a few of his characteristically awkward turns of phrase). He said gas prices were so high in part because of policies which “prevent us from looking for oil in our own land.” (I believe this to be an accurate quote, but was not taking notes as I watched, recording it only later.) He also talked about the increase in world demand for oil and noted that we had built no new refineries since 1976.*
The president is right. There are a number of factors contributing to high oil prices. And while Congress (and all too many Americans) blame the president, he is not entirely responsible for this increase. But, of course, when things go wrong, we blame the incumbent Administration, even in situations when it bears little responsibility for the state of affairs.
If the president failed at all on this score, it was in not pushing hard enough to increase oil exploration in our own lands (especially in Alaska) and to repeal regulation which made it difficult to search for new domestic sources of oil and natural gas and which prevent the construction of new refineries.
Even as the president acknowledges “that the economy is not as robust as it needs to be,” its is not in as dire streets as the Democrats (and some in the MSM) claim. The latest employment numbers show a smaller loss of jobs than anticipated, suggesting that “economy might be resisting falling into recession.”
*In other words, the solution is not increased regulation as the Democrats propose, but deregulation which John McCain largely supports.
What arguments could one use to convince somebody that the benefits of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would outweigh the potentially harmful impact on the environment?
We need to secure the energy supplies to this country for today and for our future.
It would appear to be fate’s joke that the really big oil suppliers happen to be hostile to the US, and are very unstable. Plus China and India are also competing for the same resources therefore the price will probably not be dropping soon on the export market.
So the question is… are we a serious or not.. are we going to let silly and misguided people who have seen Bambi too many times actually cause us to go through a period of serve instablity because we’re held hostage to the world oil market.. And for a corner of Alaska that no one NO ONE has ever been to , or will ever go , cept for maybe 10 eskimos.
My question is, if the Democrats and John McVain are so certain America has the ingenuity to develop green alternative energy solutions, why don’t they think we’re clever enough to drill in ANWR without harming the environment?
I want to know how, if we’re so poor, we can scrape up $6 BILLION to dump on the ethanol crowd?
Why are we plugging a fad fuel which is proven to be more environmentally disastrous than gasoline?
Why in the hell are we mandating that people buy toxic lightbulbs? Why do folks wet their panties over insignificant amounts of mercury in fish, but they’ll fill their house with mercury filled lightbulbs?
Oh, and how the hell can we take Hillary seriously when she advocates replacing one tax on the oil companies (temporarily) with another tax (permanent)?
I’m sorry, we’re supposed to listen to the wisdom of this man on energy policy? new requirements for fuel efficiency in cars was put in place before Clinton left the White House, yet Bush essentially wiped them away within months after taking office. More de-regulation in the oil industry? They are making record profits (pretty much as they do every time a profit report is made public) and still (pretty much laughingly) get some type of government subsidies. And let’s not forget Cheney’s fights to keep hidden the details of his energy policy meetings.
What I find interesting in this world is that technology has moved so much ahead in many areas, yet strangely enough, energy technology remains stagnant (except in new ways for looking for oil). Even if we did dig up Alaska, how long would that last? Too bad solar energy was laughed at for so many years (not to mention oil companies getting patents on various technologies and locking them away). By now we would have been able to use the energy from the sun in a much larger capacity than we have now.
And also a question: What exactly killed alternatives like the EV1?
PS – Love how the poster mentions Bush’s “awkward turn of phrase” sounds like he was off script again……
Kevin is good at complaining about every fucking thing in the past… knocking down suggested solutions because they aren’t 100% instant solutions.. and has yet to offer anything up to be considered. Probably becauase he has no ideas or is too insecure to offer them up to criticism. he just wants to tear down others.
Here’s some awesome news from Iraq. Lets hope the Iraqi people dont realize how strongly the Democrats want all this progress to go away and for the blood in the streets to flow:
Iraqis begin to “despise” the Mahdi Army in Baghdad’s Rusafa district
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/05/iraqis_despise_the_m.php
BAGHDAD, IRAQ: The nighttime walk through a difficult neighborhood in Southern Rusafa was uneventful; a careful “presence patrol†designed to show local citizens American forces and gauge public opinion. The jumbled maze of brightly-lit ramshackle shops and pitch-black back alleys was one of the less secure parts of the district.
Southern Rusafa is “a neighborhood with the most potential to become violent because of the JAM (Mahdi Army) special groups networks that are known to operate in that area,†according to Lieutenant Mike Hebert, the patrol’s leader. No one challenged the platoon and the expressions of Iraqi civilians were studiously neutral. But the Mahdi Army presence was apparent in the nervous energy of shopkeepers who hesitantly spoke with the Americans, a fear that increased when directly asked about the Shia militia
…
Soldiers in the 3-89 attribute improved security to a few main factors. As is the case with Iraqi Security Forces across the country, leadership is everything. Collier believes that changes in leadership of the Iraqi National Police and Army have improved the performance of the Iraqi Security Forces.
“We have now taken over an area, and because the first of the Surge units left, it’s twice the size it was before, and I have less than half the people, and it’s still working, so far,†said Collier. “And that is in good measure because of the quality of Iraqi Security Forces. I was here two years ago and I’ve seen a noticeable improvement, and it’s really the hope that this country has, that they’re able to do things on their own. And they are — they’re doing quite a bit on their own.â€
Collier said that there remains variation in operational quality among units, but notes that many are performing well. He also states that logistics remain “the biggest weak point†with the Iraqi Security Forces, but asserts gradual improvement.
“The Iraqi Army battalion 3/4/1 [3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Division] which just transitioned here from Fallujah is one of the most professional battalions I’ve seen,†said Captain Thornburg , commander of the 3-89’s Bravo Troop, who is responsible for a Joint Security Station (JSS) in southern Rusafa. “They uphold the (operational and uniform) standard on checkpoints, they’re battle-hardened professionals, and are the future of the Iraqi Army that we’d like to see. They’re proud, professional-looking soldiers, and the people see the difference.â€
…
The Mahdi Army is disliked in Rusafa
Above all, Hassan and his neighborhood watchmen do not like the Mahdi Army.
“Originally the Jaish al Mahdi (Mahdi Army) in our area used to deceive people by using the name of the religion to do their purposes,†said Dhia, Hassan’s executive officer. “They were all corrupted. They have history in crime, robberies, murders, rapes and all kinds of bad things. They even reached the level of kidnapping people and demanding ransoms just because they have money. It didn’t matter if he is Shia or Sunni; just because he has money. They gave a bad reputation for Islam.â€
American officials assert that the final factor that has improved security is the citizenry’s fatigue with violence and the militias.
“They’re still intimidated by [the Mahdi Army], but they’re tired of them,†said Thornburg.
In the past the Mahdi Army commanded local support because of the need for security in a vacuum and intimidation tactics. But as security improved and other forces are gaining prominence, support for the Mahdi militia in Rusafa is evaporating.
“Right now because of the fighting Sadr City, people have started to despise [the Mahdi Army] because of the situation they created,†said “Rammie,†an Army interpreter raised and living in Rusafa. “People have started to know the truth of [the Mahdi Army] as kidnappers, killers, car-jackers and agents of the Iranian government. But the recent fighting against the [Iraqi security forces] means they are also against the government. They are not trying to just fight the invasion forces as they claim, but they fight whoever interferes with their mafia activity.â€
Thus far, the fighting just north in Sadr City has not significantly spilled over into Rusafa, but it is affecting the lives of the district’s residents. Mahdi Army militiamen used to egress from the southeast border of Sadr City to fire rockets and mortars at the green zone, then duck back into the Shia slum, which served almost like a safe zone where no Iraqi or US military units would follow.
See link for entire story
What I find interesting……. is that Kevin in a partisan dolt without a smattering of common sense.
Kevin, IF there are patents on various technologies that are locked away, you are on the brink of making a big fortune. You see, Kevin, what you say is that the oil companies are holding useful patents and preventing their implementation in restraint of trade. Sue, Kevin, sue! Your cut would be in the mega-millions. Unless, of course, you are blowing smoke out of your anal pore.
Why don’t smart liberal governments and smart liberal entrepreneurs and smart liberal investors and smart liberal science faculty and smart liberal guys working in their garages come up with a solution to our energy problems? Only because George Bush and Dick Cheney won’t let them!?!
Yo, Kevin, nearly 83% of the energy in the internal combustion engine is lost in heat transfer. You think BMW, Toyota, GM and the rest of the auto people are just diddling around?
Kevin, why don’t you get your Radio Shack Jr. Solar Scientist kit out and get to work on running your hair curler on moonbeams?
Kevin, you are implying that all the minds in the world are locked in a conspiracy against energy progress. Where do you find the compelling data to support such lunacy?
This article is warning about the very thing I have been screaming about all year.
This idiocy in Washington is going to ruin everything our troops are acheiving.
Strategic Collapse in the War on Terror
By Joseph Myers
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/05/strategic_collapse_in_the_war.html
Words matter, and in the global war on terror we are losing the battle of words, in a self-inflicted defeat. The consequences could not be more profound.
Recent government policy memoranda, circulating through the national counter-terrorism and diplomatic community, establishes a new “speech code” for the lexicon in the war on terror, as reported by the Associated Press and now available in the public domain .
These new “speech codes” recommended that analysts and policy makers avoid the terms jihad or jihadist or mujhadid or “al-Qaida movement” and replace them with “extremists” and by extension other non-specific terms.
The use of these “new words” and rejection of the “old words” is ostensibly designed to avoid legitimating al-Qaida and its followers while mollifying the sensitivities of the larger Muslim community.
This culmination of previous trends does not surprise me at all.
This is more than simply dancing on the pinhead of cultural sensitivity-words have meaning, ideas have consequences.
This policy is a strategic collapse.
[snip see link for the rest of the article]
Well, the NAS found that increasing CAFE standards increases human deaths by 3,200 per year. The question should be: Why in the ever loving fuck are we supposed to listen to the “wisdom” of liberals on energy policy? Especially when they force us to use toxic lightbulbs in our homes to “save the planet”. Sounds like an irresponsible prospect, don’t it?
Let’s be clear. They get two tax incentives, not subsidies, which actually help to keep gas prices lower. What’s more, did you know that they don’t actually pass on the actual price that they COULD charge the public for gas? They eat a lot of that. And, if the tax incentives are so “evile”, why did the 110th Congress decide to keep them in place for Citgo (PDVSA)?
You still ignored my post pointing out that state and federal governments make twice as much from oil & gas than the oil companies do. Worse than that, they do nothing more than hold out their hands for the cash.
And? We should forget Hillary’s fights to keep folks out of her Socialist healthcare meetings. Not only that, she ignored a federal judges orders to open the meetings. What’s more, they refuse to release any documents from the Clintoon library and massage parlor.
I still haven’t found anybody who can honestly explain why anybody should care about the energy policy meetings.
Anywhere from 12-30 years, which is a hell of a lot longer than ethanol will last.
And produced how many batteries to lie a moulderin’ in the landfills?
It was GM who created it. The $80,000 price tag to build it didn’t help, but the batteries and lack of range pretty much killed it.
And of course, what hypocrite Kevin will never answer is why, if alternative fuels are so promising, Democrat billionaires like George Soros aren’t making them and cashing in on them.
Funny how millionaire and billionaire leftist Democrats always whine about private industry and how the rich are preventing all progress…..but never put any of their own money into this progress that they claim is so easy.
9: seriously, why do some people here spend so much time engaging in so much name calling? your first sentence immediately negates everything in the rest of your response because your hatred for liberals completely clouds your ability to answer clearly.
the people who responded here to my comments completely ignored the cogent points (ie, why did Bush remove requirements for better fuel efficiency when he took office) cause of course you’re not allowed to speak of bad things done by your elected leaders – well, as long as that leader is in the party you support.
So let’s look to the future: What’s McCain’s answer to this? Let’s do the holiday on gas tax and not pay for it anywhere, just let our ever growing deficit take it on. Not to mention adding to the already crumbling infrastructure of our nations roads and highways. Hillary’s not much better – tax holiday with windfall profits on the oil companies – well, not much chance of that happening. Obama is the only with sense enough to say that gas tax holiday is ridiculous and better mileage in cars and alternative fuel sources would work best.
Funny you mention GM by the way….They had the great EV car, but they mysteriously abandoned it….with all inventory out and waiting lists miles long for these cars, they just stopped it, forced people to return the leased vehicles and, as if trying to destroy a dirty secret, they physically destroyed these efficient, clean vehicles. They came up with a lame excuse about the costs being too high. well, the costs for all new technologies is high in the beginning, but if demand for a product grows, the price eventually will come down as it becomes available to more people.
I do love the little attack about the Radio Shack science kit. Same ludicrous excuse that have been used for decades against people who’ve advocated alternatives to oil based engines.
Thanks for another refreshing dose of reality.
Why anyone listens to Leftists about enviromental policy considering the catostrophies they have caused in the past. Lets review
Hystericals hippes got DDT banned. MILLIONS of people have died from Malaria
Hysterical Leftists create such a stir about biofuel and global warming that we’re now burning food in our cars. MILLIONS of people are now starving around, food prices have almost doubled.
Let me repeat.. people are STARVING TO DEATH around the world. AND WE’RE BURNING FOOD!!
Enviromental wackjobs thought it to be evil to maintain undergrowth in forests.. MILLIONS OF acres of forest now burn more fiercely then ever before.
Every hysterical issue these wackjobs like Kevin advocate for results in MASSIVE DEATHS.
They’re immoral , heartless, selfish killers
Kevin, I am so grateful that you set me straight on all the great leaps forward in energy conservation that have been made by liberal governments, liberal scientists, liberal inventors, liberal entrepreneurs, and liberals working in their garages. The planet is now safe and we are free to roam about the world.
As for the EV: do I understand that it was ready to save the world and that no other automobile manufacturer in the world has grasped the concept it was based on? WOW! Who woulda’ thunk it? Oops, I guess you did!
Where, oh, where has Kevin gone for his view of the cosmos? Cosmos? Kos? Who knows?
So you don’t think 3,200 extra deaths a year don’t matter? How about the fact that nobody will want to buy unsafe cars? But that’s o.k. You’re union buddies will still get paid $50/hr. to sit around the plant and do nothing.
What the hell is the point of saving the world if there’s nobody left alive?
Dare to ask tough questions of B. Hussein Snobama and you’re tagged a racist bigot. Cry me a river, Kevin.
The federal government took in $3 TRILLION last year. Several billion came from the oil companies. We’re so damn poor, but we can come up with $6 BILLION for ethanol funding. Barack Hussein Snobama seems to think we’ve got $845 BILLION to fork over to the U.N. for global poverty.
So how broke are we, really?
So where are the states and the multi-millionaire liberals on that one?
Which is even more ridiculous, but when you’re betting on White Guilt to get what you want, you don’t have to make sense.
As far as the EV1, I don’t know and, frankly Scarlet, I don’t give a sweet rotten damn. I didn’t have the luxury of watching some kook liberal (read:communist) “documentary” like you obviously did. If it was really worth pissing on, it’d still be out there. Why don’t you contact GM if you really want to know.
My guess is you already have a conspiracy theory you were told to believe, so why bother asking us?
Besides, you never answer my questions, so why should yours be answered?
I think it goes back to that Population Time Bomb book. I think the enviro-commies want to kill off as many as possible.