Oil prices

[Jones]

Lifer,
I suspect American's distrust of nuclear power is likely to be assuaged by their dislike of paying $7 per gallon. Assuming we get a viable electric car on the market in the next few years we may need more nuke plants to beef up the electric grid. BTW, if you wanted a reason to get mad at US auto makers, check out Who Killed the Electric Car?. If you're like me and have always had a mental image of electrics cars as being impractical gizmos that could never realistically fit into the way Americans drive, this film is a real eye opener.

More,
You just might be on target with your investment in SGR. And just so ya know a good friend of mine works at San Onofre, so I sure hope it's safe!

 

[moreluck]

"Disposing the waste is another hazard that America is scared of. "

Lifer...Maybe if we studied all the surfers at San Onofre & Trestles we could see the effects.......they do all say DUUUUUUDE a lot !!!

 

[brett636]

Lifer,
I suspect American's distrust of nuclear power is likely to be assuaged by their dislike of paying $7 per gallon. Assuming we get a viable electric car on the market in the next few years we may need more nuke plants to beef up the electric grid. BTW, if you wanted a reason to get mad at US auto makers, check out Who Killed the Electric Car?. If you're like me and have always had a mental image of electrics cars as being impractical gizmos that could never realistically fit into the way Americans drive, this film is a real eye opener.

More,
You just might be on target with your investment in SGR. And just so ya know a good friend of mine works at San Onofre, so I sure hope it's safe!

That entire documentary is available on youtube. I've seen it and it is rather interesting.

 

[wkmac]

http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUST14048520080630?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&rpc=23&sp=true


and


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aq_sRQH22HdY&refer=worldwide

Lifer, thanks for bringing up nuke power also. Very much a part of this whole mix and IMO way pass due in coming. We should have gotten over the fears of 3 Mile Island 25 years ago and began to move forward again. Even the founder of Greenpeace, Patrick Moore believes we should go nuclear.

 

[tieguy]

I wish it were that simple, BAU, I would be all for it. If they didn't buy grain from us, they would just buy it cheap from another country. Maybe we should just pack up our military and move everybody out of the Middle East. I wonder how long the Saudi royal family would last then.

We need a grain cartel that sets supply and price based on the supply and price of oil.

 

[wkmac]

Well the nutjob speaks again but this time concerning somewhat the issue of this thread. Since humor is so important in life I thought I'd post this so we could all have a good laugh at this idiot!

 

[wkmac]

I dedicate this post to Brett who posted in another thread about the high mileage VW Diesel (70 mpg) that currently because of gov't regulation ie no free market is not sold in America. Also Brett showed good judgement IMO in checking the emotions and expressed the thinking of maintaining a hands off approach to market intervention by gov't in this time of oil prices and the economic crisis that comes with it.

Now to the best part. I give you the VW One Liter

Based on just going to and from work in one of these, I could go a full year on the amount of fuel I now use in about a month. Could you imagine the shockwaves to the middle east or for that fact to the oil industry period if we could see that kind of reduction across the board? And here's the bonus. We shut the "enviro-wackos" up with a massive reduction in greenhouse gases while our goal is really economic savings and telling the middle east to go eat their sand.

I know it's tough but we're Americans and if anybody on earth can lead the way out and show that freedom and free markets work, it is US!

JMO.

Brett, thought of you the moment I read this piece. Thanks man!

 

[wkmac]

http://www.abcnews.go.com/WN/PainAtThePump/story?id=5297531&page=1

Very interesting video segment.

 

[wkmac]

former CNBC financial expert Jim Rogers with some interesting comments on oil and at the end of this 5 minute piece, an interesting prediction about the US Central Bank.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1137692012/bctid1564399577

 

[moreluck]

This is Nancy Pelosi's phone # 1-202-225-0100

Call and leave a message that you want drilling for oil to start immediately !!!

 

[moreluck]

3 Ways to lower gas prices.....

 

[Jones]

Excellent documentary that relies on peak oil theory:

A Crude Awakening

 

[wkmac]

Many of you may have seen the ads on TV done by T. Boone Pickens concerning our energy situation and offering no opinion either way, here's the link to his website with more details on what he suggests.

http://www.pickensplan.com/

This morning on C-Span during the Washington Journal program, Congressman Peterson, Repub. from Pa. and Congressman Abercrombie, Demo. from Hi. were on talking their own bi-partisan efforts to make America completely energy independant. It was a very interesting discussion and call in and worth the 45 minutes to watch if you get the chance.

The video hasn't been archived yet but should in the next couple of days and if I find it, I'll post it for viewing. This is an issue where IMO all ideas no matter from where they come or from what political slant should be out on the table in a completely open and honest discussion. I appreciated Abercrombie in the discussion as he was up front that he is a very liberal democrat but that he is also completely sold on the idea that America needs to be completely and totally energy self sufficent. I believe the vast majority regardless of political belief feel the same way. He also supports off-shore drilling as well. He and Peterson have been working together on this bi-partisan effort for 5 years so Abercrombie seems not to be a recent "Jesus" convert if you will. BTW: Abercrombie admitted it was Peterson 5 years ago talking about this issue that made him a true believer.

Again, IMO this issue is so vital to America and it's own self interests that we should be looking at everything and holding nothing back. As to the Pickens Plan video, you may not like the bottomline solution or you may but both Peterson and Abercrombie verified many of the numbers Pickens was crunching in his video including the $700 bil annually flying out of our country to foreign interets. Both Abercrombie and Peterson were supportive of the Pickens' idea and wanted to do more with natural gas exploration.

We can argue all day on other issues and their related problems but this one seems such a "no-brainer" to me. If we can become energy independent, our economic power I believe can return and we can tell the Middle East to go pound sand plus the fact that the price of oil will collaspe and this will also deny vast sums of money from the very people we find ourselves in a war with these days. I see this as the weapon we just keep refusing to use and we don't have to put one soldier on the ground to use it which is even better for the individual soldier and the taxpayer.

JMO

 

[wkmac]

This is Nancy Pelosi's phone # 1-202-225-0100

Call and leave a message that you want drilling for oil to start immediately !!!

Peterson and Abercrombie stated this morning on C-Span that Congress is really starting the catch heat from the American public and calling Pelosi might be one way. However, at some point she and her staff will become hardened to the effort and then you're just enriching the phone companies with a long distance phone call. The better scenario is not to convince one but convince 100's who then confront the one the change.

Call your local Congressman and Senator and don't forget to call your State and local officals to. These folks also have direct connections to the elected leaders in Washington so make their sorry little asses work for you for a change. Leave no stone unturned in this matter because it's starting to have an effect.

Also never send a form email being passed around as it doesn't take long to realze what the gig is and they just dump these things. I know because I have friends in politics and one of my best friends has been a Congressial Staff manager and he's told me pointblank these things just get dumped once they see a certain trend.

Formulate a quick email that is to the point "IN YOUR OWN WORDS" and these are very effective. Be respectful and nice. Phone call to the local district offices can be very effective and again be very nice and respectful to the person answering. They do log all calls, pro or con and calls to the point and respectful and you might be surprised sometimes with the result. Never use a form letter or form script. That will kill any effort as they just see you being used as a mouthpiece. Alway formulate in your own words because is just a fact that people who send in form letters or former scripts via telephone already lack mental capacity to undertand and study a subject so it probable they are just letting others with an agenda manipulate them for another purpose.

JMO

A handwritten letter via snail mail these days really catches an eye because it's known this takes time and thought which suggests the writer is very serious about this issue. I'm old school and always used this process more than any other but that's me. Phone calls and emails sometimes bring responses mostly in a type of formed letter response but when I send a snail mail letter, I almost always get a response that goes into some quick specifics of the issue whether the poltiican agrees or disagrees with me. Snail mail IMO still works very effective.

 

[moreluck]

The only problem with new ideas for energy is that everyone keeps saying, "it won't help us NOW."

Doesn't anyone out there think we should start somewhere?? Like start today !!

My gag reflex took over when they were interviewing Feinstein yesterday about the energy crisis. The Congress is more worried about their summer vacation than the American people. They all (Dem. & Rep.) should be locked in the room until a solution is found and bill is passed to remedy our gas situation.

START TODAY !!

 

[tieguy]

The only problem with new ideas for energy is that everyone keeps saying, "it won't help us NOW."

Doesn't anyone out there think we should start somewhere?? Like start today !!

My gag reflex took over when they were interviewing Feinstein yesterday about the energy crisis. The Congress is more worried about their summer vacation than the American people. They all (Dem. & Rep.) should be locked in the room until a solution is found and bill is passed to remedy our gas situation.

START TODAY !!

Perhaps we can exercise our newly renewed second ammendment rights to help keep them in a room.

 

[UPS Lifer]

One thing that could help show how serious this is to shut down America one day a week. People and businesses would have to reassess how to conduct daily business.


Now I know this may sound crazy, but the details could be worked out. The biggest problem lies in certain industries that can't just turn off a switch and shut down the operation such as travelers, tourists, transportation of goods and industries that support such as well as emergency services such as police, fire, hospital care and utility companies. It may be easier if this day was attached to a weekend. Workdays could be increased to meet the 40 hours minimum on those 4 days.

But what if we could work out the details to get 90% of the business to redefine and develop new schedules to meet a 3 day weekend. This day would be used to STAY HOME. No traveling - no fuel used!!! Think of the affect on the supply side and oil futures!! This could have an amazing impact. Other countries may follow suit and all of a sudden there is a glut of oil. Then the economics of decreasing the demand will set in causing a drop in oil prices.

SUPPLY VS DEMAND
Over the years - America has done nothing except increase the supply side of the equation (more drilling and more importing). We have gone from 24% oil import (in 70s) to 67% oil import currently. What have we done to eliminate or reduce the demand? Not much !!!!! When are we going to stop taking it?

I am not against drilling - we need to tap into all our options. But we need to force auto companies to look for other sources of fuel and implement mpg rating increases that take affect next model year...

We need to run our economy without the crutch of imports. We have to be energy self reliant. We have to attack the problem as if it were a war and take drastic measures to ensure the energy stability of America.

Maybe we need to cap the production of vehicles to the attrition rate of older cars.
American car manufacturers get first opportunities and advantages to make the changes over foreign owned companies and companies that do not use American employees to produce these cars.

We need to spur development to companies that can retrofit our existing vehicles at an affordable price - maybe even have the government subsidize these industries and give incentives to individuals (like you and me) who retrofit.

Provide tax incentives to energy efficient and compliant companies based on future more restrictive standards. (Companies that voluntarily close and reduce business hours)

Oil futures will drop dramatically if we provide the leadership to make these things happen. We absolutely need to change our habits and the time has come to take action.

There are folks out there that will take a "black hat" view of some or all of the solutions I mentioned above. Back up your words with a solution that can work, if you don't think mine will. The most important thing we can do is help provide solutions and get behind those solutions!!!

What else can you think of to make a difference NOW?

 

[moreluck]

I heard a guest on FOX News say that China has been hoarding fuel in prep. for the Olympics. He said that when the olympics begin, we should see the price come down. He said that 25% of China's increase in usage was for storing. He gave a date of Aug. 25th to start seeing a downward movement of the barrel prices.

He said that the world's eyes will be on China and they don't want any glitches involving oil, so they stockpiled it.

Time will tell, I guess. True or not, it's an explanation of how China's oil needs could have increased so much in the past year or two.

 

[moreluck]

UPSlifer.....Utah's government workers have switched to a 4 day workweek to conserve fuel.

Here's the problem I see in Utah particularly....Normally, 4 guys carpool to work 5 days a week. Now, it's only 4 days a week. BUT, those same 4 guys on their extra day off go 4 separate ways in 4 separate cars going to the gym, taking kids to dance class, religion class, swimming pool, summer school, and the many, many activities that kids have.

I don't see that it will make much difference.

 

[UPS Lifer]

UPSlifer.....Utah's government workers have switched to a 4 day workweek to conserve fuel.

Here's the problem I see in Utah particularly....Normally, 4 guys carpool to work 5 days a week. Now, it's only 4 days a week. BUT, those same 4 guys on their extra day off go 4 separate ways in 4 separate cars going to the gym, taking kids to dance class, religion class, swimming pool, summer school, and the many, many activities that kids have.

I don't see that it will make much difference.

First of all - GOOD FOR UTAH! They are trying to make a difference. The bugs can always be worked out!!

Getting back to your post....
You are so right, when you look at it like that. Unfortunately, people only react when it hits them in the pocket book! What a shame!

I wasn't around in WWII but to make things happen we had to sacrifice in just about every part of our lives! Curfews-rationing-neighborhood watches- lights out-no new cars- etc etc etc. Maybe we need to get back to some of those sacrifices or risk losing even more.

Utah needs to have public awareness ads to promote the reason these changes are going into affect. I hope more states take action like Utah. God knows the feds will just go on summer recess and keep pointing fingers at the other guy!