bingo. add me to that list. and maybe my post too? we see the future, and it isn't oil. why sit here with thumbs-in-asses when we can start now to avoid more pain later?
Because people in power are closely allied with oil company profits. Oil and automobiles are one hell of an "interest group".
Oil is very cheap to pump out of the ground in places like saudi. It is a lot cheaper to pump out of the ground than most alternative energy sources. However the saudi's have jacked up the price a lot at which point alternatives become viable. If OPEC isn't careful they might let the alternatives gain steam. The electric car was not killed just by a lack of consumer demand.
yep. lobbying was a big part too of why electric cars died. some people said they were just as fast and fun as normal cars, and of course, cleaner. in california, when the zero-emissions vehicle mandate was first going around, the Western States Petroleum Association hired a PR firm in 94 to scare people that utilities were planning to hike prices to cover infrastructure improvements like charging stations. they made a fake grassroots org that fought "Utility Company Abuse" to fight california's zero-emission vehicle proposition at the time. in '95, Mobil advertised in Time, USA Today and Newsweek to argue against alternative fuels that everyone would be subsidizing electric cars through utility rates and government subsidies. i hate this. it's not in the oil companies' current best interest to let alternatives erode their shares. with the ridiculous amount of capital that it takes to produce oil, why would they stop? environment and sustainability be damned, they're in it for the "now"... and i'm worried that their attitude is just like the predatory financing acts/unchecked consumerism that started in the 90s- could pay off big now, and totally screw us 10 years down the line. hence, the need for government intervention. we're being screwed and some people won't recognize it until they lose everything, including clean air, food, and water.
A ready supply of cheap energy is the source of our prosperity, our economic growth, and out improvements in quality of life. Exxon is the best there is at providing cheap energy to the masses. They are a very profitable company and do very well by their shareholders (of which I and millions of other americans are one). How we got to a point where a company is maligned for doing well is beyond me. If you have a gripe with the price of gasoline, don't blame Exxon. Exxon has no control over gas prices, none. Anyone who thinks so needs a course in basic economics. Commodity prices are controlled by global supply and demand. The price determines how much oil and gas Exxon decides to produce. They explore and produce until it is no longer profitable. If the price goes up (because of a decrease in supply or an increase in demand), Exxon responds by producing more, because the increased price makes it profitable to do so. If the profit motive and the price system are interfered with by coercive regulation or gas taxes (or in the extreme cases of leftists/socialist/communist countries like Venezuela, nationalization of the entire oil industry), production will be stifled or discouraged, and prices will continue to rise as global demand increases. The only way to reduce the price of oil is to produce more, period. And production will not occur if their is no profit in it. So when you see Chuck Shumer arguing that we take away the profits of oil companies (the idea that you can advocate the shakedown of private institutions amazes me), that will do nothing to reduce the price of gasoline. It will only serve to increase it.
If I can interrupt the Exxon encomium - I note you must have missed the teleconference today by a few members of the Rockefeller family, in which they took Exxon management to task about alternative energy, among other things, in advance of the annual meeting. As an Exxon shareholder I would expect you to pay a little closer attention to your proxy balloting materials.
it's not really about the price of oil. it's about the unsustainability of the business. with these kinds of windfall profits, we should be pushing them to make more headway into alternative markets, like the rockefellers (of course, of former Standard Oil) are suggesting. if we can shift demand, we can reduce the pressures of supply. believe me, i don't think anyone here doubts basic supply and demand. it's just the idea that alternative energy is, well, an alternative to oil and therefore, a substitute.
Prices dictate where we should invest. Not some government agency or a wealthy family with a lot of guilt that inherited an oil fortune.
I was referring to the huge increases in demand, which obviously will drive up prices whether there's collusion or not.
Yes, but the government can and should influence prices. In the case of oil, gas taxes need to be increased to stimulate demand for alternatives (and hence investment in their production).
i would say improving foreign policy and cutting reliance on something that's not our domestic power should help dictate where we invest. investing != invading other countries
Naturally there's no precedent for energy pricing being a scam now is there? Oh wait... I love the trust some of you have in big business. Benevolent capitalism and compassionate conservatism, the great frauds of the 21st century. The cost is what the market is willing to pay when there is open competition, not when there's defacto collusion and monopoly.
OPEC recently said there is no problem with supply but anyway. Please explain how record profits result from increased costs. This is the red herring in this whole fiasco. The only way record profits result from increased costs is if you're raising the price of your product at a faster rate than the increase in costs.
i love how you just dismiss everything i said about commodity prices being inversely related to the dollar and its weakness. this shows me you are a closed minded person who has already made up their mind and isn't willing to learn anything new unless it relates to your pre-existing beliefs. please continue on with your rant and continue to ignore any facts, data, or new ideas.
so you hate the cartel but you are going to quote them for truth? nice. maybe you can get more some more quotes about OPEC didn't want high oil prices.
