Archive for the ‘Oil Prices’ Category
When It Rains..Well, You Know The Rest
August 4th, 2008
It’s been a tough couple of days for the Speaker of the House.
Cindy Sheehan has secured the signatures which will qualify her to compete against the Speaker in her upcoming re-election bid.
Now that could be quite interesting to watch. Not that I expect Ms. Sheehan to to a serious threat to Ms. Pelosi, but for the fireworks which might ensue.
George Stephanopoulos on Sunday grilled Ms. Pelosi on her decision to shut down debate and not allow a vote on off shore drilling.
I’ve read the transcript in its entirety at least twice and with all of the incomplete sentences offered by the Speaker, I could not make heads nor tails of her position. Please, if you do, let me know in the comments.
And, GOP members of the House plan to continue their debate on the House floor today:
ABC News’ Viviana Hurtado Reports: House Republicans tell ABC News that at least 30 members of Congress, emboldened by Barack Obama’s “shift” on off shore drilling, are flying back to DC from their Districts today and tomorrow to attend a special debate on energy policy. This “session” is scheduled for Monday, August 4th beginning at 10 am ET. As expected, no Democrats will participate.
One House Republican says, “I’m a 25 year veteran of the U.S. Congress, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
GOP members say they would not be holding this debate tomorrow, if the Democratic nominee had not modified his position on off shore drilling.
They believe that with Obama and his Republican opponent John McCain, appearing to be in “agreement” about off shore drilling, then Speaker Nancy Pelosi should recall the Congress from recess, and put an energy bill on the floor in August.
We continue to hear that it will be 10 years before we see the benefit of drilling in Anwar and off shore. While there is a great deal of truth to that statement, it escapes me how the Speaker in her interview with Mr. Stephanopoulos blamed President Bush for a failed energy policy.
In 2002 the House and the President had a plan which would have taken at least a first step towards our energy independence.
If Congress had at least passed that legislation, we could then have moved forward towards developing other forms of energy which would begin to free our binds of substantial dependence on foreign oil.
Doing nothing is no longer an option for members of Congress if we hold their feet to the fire. Majority or minority makes no difference. Party affiliation should go out the window and as citizens we should work to make certain that those elected to represent us are earning their paycheck.
There are some very honest, intelligent, upstanding individuals elected to public office at all levels. They take an Oath of Office and do their level best to live up to that charge. But for those who do not, we must hold not only them but also ourselves accountable.
No,we have no say as to a Representative or Senator elected from a state other than our own, but we always have the availability of using email, phone or a letter to make our views known. When our citizens rise up as they have over the recent price at the pump, Washington takes notice.
After the past few days, I would bet Ms. Pelosi would agree.
Posted in 
The Myth About Oil – What Congress Doesn’t Want You to Know
May 27th, 2008
I asked my good friend COgirl to write a piece about our current energy crisis. She is proficient in the field as she and her husband are engineers who have worked in the field their entire careers.
I wish to thank her for taking the time to write this post.
Here is her unedited post:
The Congressional hearings last week with oil company executives were a big joke. The question is whether or not the American public is smart enough to see through it all or whether or not they can push the media views aside to see the truth.
Prices are set in the world market which many people in the U.S. do not realize also includes other countries such as China and India., i.e., the world does not revolve around us. There is a strong correlation between economic growth and energy consumption, so demand is on the rise. Also, oil is traded in U.S. dollars. So as exchange rates work against us, traders in the world market increase what they are willing to pay for oil. Prices go up for us, but not for everyone.
Our thirst for oil is nearly insatiable. While it’s “pc†to talk about alternative fuels and renewable energy, the truth of the matter is that the majority of oil consumed in this country is used by the transportation sector, meaning our cars. According to the Energy Information Agency, in February over 60% of the oil we consumed went for gasoline and jet fuel. That percentage will go up over the summer as refiners reduce heating oil production in order to meet gasoline demand during the travel season.
There are not enough hybrid cars being produced and purchased to make a significant dent in that for some time to come. If the life “expectancy†of a car is 10 years, then we replace 10% of our auto fleet each year. Even if all of new cars were hybrids, it will take at least that long to increase average fuel efficiency. In the meantime population growth puts more cars on the road, so gasoline consumption in total rises.
What have our lawmakers in Washington done for us? Well, they’ve curtailed the only tool we have to fight rising oil prices, domestic production. No drilling in Alaska. No offshore drilling. No drilling in the west. Oil shale reserves aren’t allowed to be explored and extraction techniques tested and commercialized. No refineries can be built. Yet, Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation to SUE OPEC for setting high oil prices and limiting supply. Limiting supply? Now that’s novel.
Who profits from the higher oil prices? Washington likes to point the finger at “big oilâ€, but the dirty little secret is that state and federal governments make out like bandits. According to data from the California Energy Commission, when the price per gallon was $3.89 (April 28, 2008), taxes accounted for $.65 of the price paid at the pump. Crude oil was $2.83 of that. The remaining $.41 went for refining, transportation, marketing and profits. Would Congress dare to look in the mirror?
What can be done? Both sides have to give something. We have got to allow more domestic exploration and production. It takes 10 years to bring a new oil field online so this should have been done years ago, like during the Clinton administration. But we also MUST increase our mileage standards. This has to be a comprehensive plan that also encourages the development of new automobile technology and fuels.
I’m not terribly optimistic. The hearings last week were a charade. I don’t have faith that political differences and grandstanding can be put aside. This tit for tat mentality has gotten us where we are today and I don’t see an end in sight. After all, we have an election in November and when that’s over with, they only have 2 years to work on the next. The only shot we average citizens have for getting the message out is between now and November. Let your candidates know what you want.
Guest Post Written By COgirl
Note In the initial printing of this piece I inadvertantly left out the final paragraph. It is now there. Please excuse this inexcusable error.
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