A Bipartisan Fix for the Oil Crisis

Quote:Efficiency is a huge source of new energy. It is scandalous that we have let the mileage standards decrease over the past 25 years. Whether through mandates or tax policy, active government intervention is needed. Republicans have to stop acting as if the "market" is some pristine state of nature that is not subject to active shaping.

The latest farm bill, ethanol and sugar tariffs, the cost of the Iraq war and Bear Stearns all make that reasoning ring hollow. So when some "free marketeers" attack annual biofuel subsidies of $4 billion, fleet mandates, or government research and development expenditures, it is hard not to view this criticism as at best naïveté, and at worst hypocrisy.

Finally, can we stop with the nonsensical talk of "energy independence," the end of petroleum, and postured, ineffectual boycotts of Exxon Mobil? We cannot, should not and will not be independent in a global economy, and petroleum is not going to disappear.

I've felt all along that for the next 50 - 100 years petroleum will be a significant portion of the fuel that runs the transportation systems world wide.

Quote:Our national interest is to add more energy, use it more efficiently, and diversify its source and type. This will serve to lessen the power of any one choke point (geography, nation or source).

Good article.

+1

THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:I've felt all along that for the next 50 - 100 years petroleum will be a significant portion of the fuel that runs the transportation systems world wide.

Perhaps world wide, but our country can still get off petroleum for ground transportation.

Fanatical Wrote:

THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:I've felt all along that for the next 50 - 100 years petroleum will be a significant portion of the fuel that runs the transportation systems world wide.

Perhaps world wide, but our country can still get off petroleum for ground transportation.

Seen the price tag to add a hydrogen infrastructure along side the unleaded pumps???

We should probably use the electric infrastructure already in place first, but it is true that changing over won't be free or happen in a week.

WMD Owl Wrote:Seen the price tag to add a hydrogen infrastructure along side the unleaded pumps???

Hydrogen is the wrong media for storing energy. This is more interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol_economy

THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:A Bipartisan Fix for the Oil Crisis

Quote:Our national interest is to add more energy, use it more efficiently, and diversify its source and type. This will serve to lessen the power of any one choke point (geography, nation or source).

I agree with this particular quote. How we go about doing it, I'll disagree with the author. It's our own federal government holding us back. There's so much government red tape, it's nearly impossible for our industry to upstart more nukes, coal-to-oil, hydroelectric, etc.. Infusing more government meddling will just make a bad situation worse. Industry sees the demand, and there's money to be made. Let them loose. Let's get it done.

I don't have the figures, but in the 80's, Oil and Gas were so much a part of the Texas that a big drop in oil prices almost bankrupt the state... today, it is less than 15% of our economy.

As a country, we have not learned to diversify... and a big part of it is because while people want help when things are in the pits, they won't give up the help when things are good.

WHY do we have sugar and corn supports... plus ethanol supports, and then place a 57 cent/gal tarrif on imported sugar ethanol?? SURELY it would be better to have sugar ethanol from Louisiana rather than Brazil, but lets not be so stupid as to think that we couldn't START by importing Brazilian Ethanol and replace it with our own in 5-10 years.

The government in Texas ENCOURAGED the diversification because we were all suffering, and we would all benefit... In THIS country, we can't get midwest farmers to give up their corn subsidies on top of record prices to help sugar farmers in Louisiana.... even though the ultimate solution helps EVERYONE. People in California won't build a Nuclear plant to provide their own power, they'd rather take Energy from Nevada that takes water from Colorado... etc. etc. etc.