The original report in full: Is Matheson a Mormon? Wonder if Harry Reid in senate would have done the same.
I was speaking of my personal situation- My wife and I buy about 250 gallons monthly. $3- $4 gallon doesn't sound good. Three factors that will continue to drive prices: 1. Dollar is starting to devalue some (inflation) 2. Supplies are going to tighten over the next 3-5 yrs (significantly) 3. Cost to produce is climbing. I don't think oil will hit our economy near as hard as asset bubbles- real estate-stocks/derivitives and debt. pressure (Dollar trembling) Once the debt. boon starts coming home to roost housing will slow way down, loans will become difficult to stay solvent and stocks will adjust to credit crisis. If Asia slows down buying off our debt. this could be even worse, but we have them on one side they are still tagged to the dollar and they would also be in trouble if the dollar tumbled too hard. Very risky economic games we are playing. As long as we can borrow obscene amounts of money without any currency moves and loss of jobs/income we can tread water a little longer- maybe even 4-5 more years. That at least would get the current regimes out of harms way.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050628/ap_on_go_co/congress_pay_raise
By every account I've heard (including those by oil companies themselves), the world is very close to peak oil production. Within that next 15 years or so, demand will outweight supply. The price of oil will NOT go back down significantly (or if it does...not for long). (There is no current technology to drill the Canadian oil fields. Can we develop it...yes. Will it be really really expensive to drill it? Yes.) The American economy is tightly dependant on oil (for plastics, rubbers, gas, pharmacuaticals, etc) that almost no manufacturing segment in our economy will be unaffected. America uses the most oil in the world so when the price increases, we'll have the hardest time adjusting. This WILL happen in our lifetime and it will hurt.
You are correct. The "oil" in canada is in the form of oil shale. You can process it, but it requires a whole lot of water and energy, making it uneconomical at the moment. Once oil prices hit a certain price, shale processing may become a viable alternative. That being said, geography and environmental impact may really hamper shale production.
Exactly SC -When one considers long term trends here, primarily, not the price of gas at the pump or GWB's military "service" record, it's hard to say that the american century is going to repeat itself. And in the end, that migh not necessarily be a bad thing in terms of the way we live. and texxx - if you think a floating yuan would raise the price of Chinese exports to the point where the US manufactuaring industry would revive and take it's place making plastic keychains or whatever - again, please drop by this lovely beachfront condo just on the edge of Mingshan lu that I am selling - it's right on the sand!
I don't think you misunderstand a lot, basso, I just think you find attempting to smear Democrats, liberals, and anyone else who disagrees with the Bush Administration's extremism, and that of their fellow travelers in Congress, easier than providing anything here of substance. And that's a pity. I've been gone a month, traveling with the family, except for a peak at the BBS from time to time. I'm trying to "catch up" with what's going on (Luther Head??), so forgive me if I'm a bit "out of touch" with the threads posted here and elsewhere. (not that anyone would notice I was gone) Keep D&D Civil!!
$3 or $4 gass will suck for people personally but it will also force people to buy more fuel efficient cars and to live closer to where they work or even consider alternative forms of transportation (bus, train, bicycle, etc...). People changed their ways in the '70s so there is no reason to believe they won't change their ways again. It will also force politicians to make meaningful strides with regard to energy dependance. It's not a Democrat or a Republican issue with regards to a sound energy policy. The fact of the matter is that neither party will do much until the people demand it. Right now (and for the past 20 or so years) no one cared so politicians on both sides of the aisle only paid it lip service. When it starts to hurt people's pocketbooks then they'll demand changes and that's when politicians will listen. Expensive gas is the best thing that could ever have happened to the alternative energy movement.
Exactly. I think for years large oil companies stalled the development of alternative forms of energy, or at the very least, did little to contribute to the inevitable diminishing oil supply (Texas? I'm looking at you). Both Democrats and Republicans must see that the dependence on foreign oil is one of our biggest weaknesses in the world today. Americans have become gluttons of both oil and french fries it seems. Steps have been taken to curb our eating habits, but our oil consumption is higher than it has ever been. 4 dollars for gas? I hope so. Maybe those people will stop buying those gas-guzzling tanks, and instead buy more efficient cars.
