Yes, 'environmentalists' are completely responsible for the lack of new refineries (3 decades) in the US ~ keep believing that little fantasy.
You know nothing about this situation. Please go back to your high school class and excuse yourself from this discussion. Thanks in advance. It's not capitalism when there are outside restrictions put in place by environmentalists such as the site that Cohen referenced.
Okay, this thread needs to be moved. I don't go into the D&D because I can't stand people incessantly b****ing like you guys are. Wrong forum.
I know about the situation. Of course, I would go back to high school had I not graduated. And THIS is Capitalism. Gas goes up on speculation because people invest with their free will on futures. Don't discount me unless you plan on backing up your partisan claims.
Part of the high price of energy is speculative, but a majority is due to the growing demand from Asia. Your claims are silly in that you used a 'low point' and not an average of energy prices and even then it has no merit whatsoever. We have been close to capacity for refining for a while yet are hindered in building newer ones. I'm sure that article you read is dandy, but there are a lot more factors involved.
I'm kind of surprised Ottomaton, usually your logic does not fail. First, you missed the point that these products were of concern because they were mentioned to be in the waste of the refineries, not just that they were produced there. Next, just because people try to make these products does not imply that they are not dangerous. Did you note that the second sentence in the Wikipedia Benzene page mentions that it is a carcinogen? Farther down the page: 'In the United States, concern over its negative health effects and the possibility of benzene entering the groundwater have led to stringent regulation of gasoline's benzene content, with values around 1% typical. European gasoline specifications now contain the same 1% limit on benzene content.' As for federal and industry concerns over these substances and their release from the refineries, simply google these compounds and 'EPA'. It should alleviate your suspicions instantly.
The problem is when oil goes back down, there will not be enough profit to pay for the refinary. If you were a CEO, would you build a new refinery and risk lowering oil costs and loosing the revenue to pay for it, or just run at current capacity which is about max?
I would concur with this.....as with any market there are speculators, but the majority of crude futures are in fact taken on as a hedge by those who need to consume oil (such as Asian co's and nations) and simply want to lock in a certain price.
