What Will $100.00 Buy?
A partial tank of gas, that's what! I've had it. I am fed up. Fed up with our politicians and their weaselly ways on energy. It costs me over $100.00 to fill up my gas tank. A C-note. One Benjamin. One flippin' bill.Now I am sure there are some extreme environmentalists out there saying I should not be driving this truck. And for the most part, I do so only when I have to. Like when I am going to Mexico. Where I work and serve for weeks at a time. Besides, in this case, I need a truck. When you have to haul tons of supplies and tools, they just don't fit nicely into a cute little hybrid.  But that is beside the point. Because the argument over whether I need my wheels or not distracts us from the real culprits here, our elected politicians.We need solutions, not campaign slogans. We need answers. Not party talking points. This is an issue that is killing our economy through and through. And no one seems to have the spine to think through some real solutions. We first need to understand that no one sided approach will solve this. The basic issue is we either need more gas [drilling] or we need to lessen demand [conserving]. But to address that, there will be pain for both sides of the political aisle. And that'll take courage.  Gone are the days when the GOP could call for just more drilling. Off shore drilling, ANWR drilling. My backyard drilling.Gone too are the days of the Dems telling us to conserve our way out of this. Let's be honest. Americans like to drive. A lot. Fast. In big cars. With the AC cranked up.  So, what are we gonna do Lucy? The answer is simple. Conserve and drill. Or drill and conserve, depending on your political bent. But our elected Bonzos need to understand that any call to conserve must be met with an ability to explore and drill for more oil. And they must also understand that any bill to drill with no effort to conserve is as dead as a door nail.So, if you've got some ideas, let's hear them. But you need to think through both sides of the issue. No one sided approaches. This is a serious problem and it requires more than the usual political talking points. |
posted by Dave Miller at 6:50 AM
Comments on "What Will $100.00 Buy?"
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Bullfrog said ... (11:22 AM) :
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Dave Miller said ... (1:26 PM) :
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Patrick M said ... (1:27 PM) :
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Dave Miller said ... (1:30 PM) :
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Mike's America said ... (7:05 AM) :
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Bullfrog said ... (11:21 AM) :
post a commentI agree that it isn't an either/or situation. Of course we need to be good stewards, but we need to lessen our dependence on foreign oil by drilling here.
Environmentalists need to stop being disingenuous in their portrayal of drilling in our neck of the woods. The stance that we can never drill here ever under any circumstances is unrealistic. The truth is that oil companies have learned to drill responsibly with less impact on the environment than a decade or 2 ago, but the environmentalists would not like us to know that. They would rather operate on the 20 year old premise that drilling is absolutely destructive to the environment and is therefore unacceptable because this serves their political agenda nicely.
Unfortunately, it also means no end to this mess that we are in, so my hope is that Americans get fed up enough that they begin to exert some political pressure to get drilling done in the U.S.
Good points Bullfrog. However, you failed to offer anything on the conservation side.
If, as you state, you agree that it is not an either/or situation, where is the either/or in your response?
As you well, know, I've covered this before. And you are right in that no politician really wants a solution. The GOP, for some reason, isn't delivering a simple comprehensive bill, although their drill mentality is at least part of the solution. The Democrats, slaves to the envirokooks, haven't produced ANY solutions, passing laws to punish the people that produce oil. And then there's McCain, who brings the worst of both worlds.
What we need is to say yes to anything that will increase our supply of energy, reduce our dependence on it, conserve what we have, develop new technologies, and stop arguing about it.
It will take a WWII mentality to do this. Whatever it takes to win.
You got it Patrick. It'll take a two fisted response, something DC has been unable to muster up!
Dave: You read the post of President Bush's remarks on this the other day. I've said much the same thing as he has.
We transition to alternative fuels over the next two decades while increasing the supply of available oil and U.S. refining capacity.
Bush also signed the bill raising the fuel mpg requirements, so there's your conservation.
Use of oil has not risen steadily in the United States, we are already conserving. For me, I can't cut back on any more trips. I'm already doubling up my driving to be as efficient as possible.
But while use of oil has leveled off, production in the U.S. has dropped:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mcrfpus1A.htm
And you'll see a direct correlation between that drop in production and the ban on offshore oil exploration:
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/offshore-oil-and-gas-acres-offered.png
I think alternative fuels are a good way to go, assuming they don't consume equal to or greater amounts of fossil fuels to produce; this is a bit counter-productive. I think a key component is to continue to make vehicles more fuel efficient as well.