Comments for The Senate Shills for Big Oil »
Posted By Radiofreeeuropa 1 year, 8 months ago in NewsIt should be clear to even the most obtuse members that a country that consumes one-fifth of the world's oil but has only 3 percent of its reserves cannot possibly drill its way to energy independence.
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Radiofreeeuropa1 year, 8 months ago
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fta- It should be clear that an industry whose five biggest producers generated $145 billion in profits last year can easily sacrifice $1.7 billion in annual tax breaks it does not need to help develop the cleaner fuels the country does need.
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dissent1 year, 8 months ago
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"super omnes profito" -- above all else, profit. there's still lots more money to be made the oil-fashioned way. when it's no longer profitable then you'll see just how quickly they can actually make the switch to carve out as much of the market as possible.
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mesodude1 year, 8 months ago
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Thanks for posting this. What amazes me is that Republicans will insist one moment that "a President can't control" oil/gas prices and in the next breath they want us to believe that if they're simply allowed to drill, prices will magically plummet and every time we go to fill up our gas tanks we'll be greeted with flowers and kisses. Oh wait...I'm thinking of Iraq. Nevermind...
The point is, what makes these people think we can trust them to give tax payers any kind of relief when Exxon-Mobil won't cough up a few lousy billion dollars to pay for the Valdez judgement? If we allow them to drill, will they give back the billions in subsidies the GOP has given them? Will they pull our troops out of Iraq and stop illegally invading countries to jockey for oil? HELL NO. There is absolutely NO guarantee Americans will benefit. NONE. Republicans are absolutely NOT to be trusted. If we let these weasels drill, it'll be at our own peril.
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Mdiar1 year, 8 months ago
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Great find. Since I was ten I've thought we need to diversify where our energy comes from. If we can become predominantly a "green" nation we can use the electricity generated from that to do electrolysis for hydrogen fuel cells. The key is to be diverse in where our energy is coming from. It won't all be water and it won't all be geothermal, wind or solar. All of them need to be mixed together. This is something I've noticed since I was ten or so. How stupid is government to not realize this? Also, why doesn't big oil realize that they can lead this green "revolution" in the United States? They should be doing what business is supposed to be best at... being innovative and efficient. I mean the United States is very wealthy... we should be able to afford the infrastructure and technology to diversify where our energy comes from and, if willing to go nuclear in places, remove oil/coal from the equation in 20 years, I bet.
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Lurch1 year, 8 months ago
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You weren`t the only one.
Remember Jimmy Carter`s Alternative Energy project?
Too bad Ronnie sold America out to the oil companies and shut down that project. Twenty years of research & development and we wouldn`t be funding the terrorists every time we drove to work, school, or the store.
It is the duty of the military to protect us from enemies outside our border. It is the duty of the citizens to protect the military from enemies within our borders. They`ve done a hell of a lot better job than we have.
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Mdiar1 year, 8 months ago
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If that is in response to my statement on nuclear, I know that its finite! I just think we should start trying to end the oil and coal dependency in a reasonable manner. I consider nuclear to be reasonable for the short term, until we can improve the efficiency of the other (renewable, or as renewable as you can get) sources of power, like geothermal, solar, wind and water. Once a proper level of efficiency is achieved the electricity can be exported from areas that have the conditions to harness the renewable energy sources. I'm not sure how efficient that would be though, I've not researched the matter properly. Another advantage of doing this though, if it works, is that we can then begin the process of making our cars run off of hydrogen fuel cells. Use the clean, renewable energy from the plants to do electrolysis for the hydrogen. I think that might work... I don't know though. Oil is very short-sighted... they have a good opportunity to make money.
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bruhaha1 year, 8 months ago
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And while we sit with our heads up our behinds, the technology will be developed by other countries. Then, when we do decide to convert our energy, we will gladly pay those foreign companies to use their technology, thereby missing a chance to create jobs here in the US.
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canadianrancher571 year, 8 months ago
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bruhaha-I do not usually comment in this way but(SARCASM ON) you could always go and start a war and steal the technology developed by others, you know it would aid the economy and protect American Inerests.(SARCASM OFF)
If the money that has beem spent fighting wars to protect your sources of oil had been spent on developing new energy technology it likely would already be a done deal. Up here in Manitoba right now they are using technology that was developed by Halliburton to suck every last drop of oil from the ground. Yes Halliburton, you know the Iraqi war, oil guys.
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nostalgia1 year, 8 months ago
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As with anything they do, Congress failed to think through a logical energy policy
You need short AND long term goals
You are NOT going to be able to snap your fingers and have all energy generated from "green" sources
Short term - more drilling while alternative sources are developed
You need diversity of sources and funding for research
Congress placed far too much emphasis on corn/ethanol - one of the poorest choices they could have made. Food for fuel should never be an option
I'm certain you are aware who is getting into the use of alternative forms of energy aren't you - the oil companies. Guess who will be lining up for the government handouts??
How does Exxon see alternative energy - "Exxon estimates solar & wind energy demand will grow at a 10% rate annually over the next 25 yrs, but only on the back of govt subsidies & tax breaks to spur investment in cleaner sources."
TV ads from oil companies are touting their use of wind, geothermal etc
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Mdiar1 year, 8 months ago
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I agree with pretty much every point. It would take at least 20 years to become even a majority (not fully) green nation, like I said above. That number of years would only be 20, I think, with a large movement for the "green" technology. Nuclear is not a long term answer and oil/coal, at the moment, is the best short term answer we have. If parts of that was in reply to me just be aware I'm not expecting an over-night "magical" change. I'm expecting to see less of a concentration on ethanol and idiocy like that and a higher concentration on renewable technologies available to us now... where it is feasible of course. Of course maybe we have those types of power sources in the areas that can use them now and I'm wildly overestimating how much a combination of other power sources can give us. I've been known to be wrong many a time.
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Will13131 year, 8 months ago
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I'm expecting to see less of a concentration on ethanol and idiocy like that and a higher concentration on renewable technologies available to us now..
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Jeb Bush formed a consortum to import ethanol from, I believe, Brazil.. and he also is part of a group that bought an old distillery here in Florida.. to make ethanol from sugar cane....
expect the price of sugar to skyrocket...
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Radiofreeeuropa1 year, 8 months ago
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Ethanol is old school, Model T's ran on it. In fact, it was only abandoned in favor of gasoline when became more expensive than gasoline. Why is bank robber Neil Bush not behind bars??? Not only did he rob banks but the U.S. taxpayers replaced the money he stole! More efficient means of production could likely be achieved with serious research and development, however biodiesel is far more promising.
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Lurch1 year, 8 months ago
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The Bush`s have a family compound down in Paraguay, right along side the Reverend Moon`s compound. Same Reverend Moon who demanded to sleep with all virgins in his flock on their wedding night so he could `bless` their marriage. Same Rev Moon who owns the Washington Times and other pro-Republican news media.
Seems the good Reverend and the Bush`s are expecting to need an escape compound where they can go and not be extradited.
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Radiofreeeuropa1 year, 8 months ago
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I remember watching a film in science class in the 60's that spelled out the scenario we now face quite clearly regarding energy. We have been bamboozled for over 40 years now about having a sane energy policy. Your right, we can't just snap our fingers (40 years too late). But we must remove the stranglehold the fossil fuel industry holds on D.C. to even start.
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crespi1 year, 8 months ago
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As a child and teen-ager I was always told (by conservatives) that solar energy was "NO GOOD."
The sun shines A LOT in my state.
Enough to heat every home, not even using photo-voltaic technology, just water and rocks. (But THAT would be "TOO EXPENSIVE.")
Colorado State University is contracting to manufacture inexpensive solar-to-electricity panels it has recently developed.
It is the first sign of hope I've seen in the field of solar energy.
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Radiofreeeuropa1 year, 8 months ago
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I put panels on my house last year along with a very high efficiency heating and cooling system that uses hybrid technologies. It was about 4x as expensive as conventional systems but it looks like I'm on target to have it pay for itself in 4 to 5 years! ( If energy costs continue rising, less!)
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Dionys1 year, 8 months ago
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University of Idaho (of all places) also has some exciting technological advances in Solar Panels. As for taking advantage of what nature gives us, passive solar heat is amazingly useful. Even in rainy, gray places like Oregon you can save a good deal on heating just water alone. In places where you get even a slight bit more sun if you build right you can completely heat your house with passive solar.
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mesodude1 year, 8 months ago
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"Short term - more drilling while alternative sources are developed"
--How not surprising that you accuse "Congress" (by which I'm sure you mean the Democratic Party) of being shortsighted but then your first (and only) short term solution is to drill for more oil. Here's a thought...Let's NOT drill for more oil and instead cut back on consumption, increase fuel efficiency, telecommute more and stop causing the market to swing wildly up and down by threatening to invade other countries and manufacturing reasons to issue terror alerts.
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Charlson1 year, 8 months ago
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Gluttonous oil companies are going to do everything they can to keep getting government hand outs even after record profits during the Bush administration. Someone should tell the oil companies that these hand outs are bad PR and they don't really need them. But hey, no one ever said greed would play second fiddle to common sense and honesty.
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Radiofreeeuropa1 year, 8 months ago
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The media has ignored a big story, a very large oil deposit recently discovered in the Gulf of Mexico under U.S. jurisdiction. Thanks to oil lobbyists writing their own legislation and "top secret" Cheney meetings, this resource, owned by the citizens of the United States, will be given free of charge to oil companies who will sell it to the highest bidder. When after Katrina the national oil reserves were tapped to offset damaged rigs in the gulf, that oil, owned by U.S. citizens was sold to foreign markets. Not domestically, to ease suffering of the citizens. I know the chant, free global market! My question is, at what point does "global free markets" (easily manipulated by the way) supersede the nation's interest? At what point is this treasonous?
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mesodude1 year, 8 months ago
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"Thanks to oil lobbyists writing their own legislation and "top secret" Cheney meetings, this resource, owned by the citizens of the United States, will be given free of charge to oil companies who will sell it to the highest bidder."
--Which is what they are most likely to do if they get to drill in Alaska or anywhere else. Prices would go down for a few weeks or a month at most but the next time Bush feels like provoking Ahmadenijad or Chavez, prices will shoot back upwards. I think we all know the drill (no pun intended) by now.
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Bkumm1 year, 8 months ago
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We can all shout and stamp and whine about this all we want, but the fact remains that until the American people stop thinking about what they want to have short term and start looking at a longer view we're going to go nowhere.
Look, anyone that was paying attention saw this coming as early as the Sixties. In fact, the modified Hubbert peak, saw cheap oil exhausted around 2000. Now, I may be mistaken, but that's about the time this started to get out of control again. Of course that didn't stop Americans from buying more and more and more gas sucking SUV's. You know why? Because they wanted them, that's why. Now the complaining and whining starts about how they can't afford to fill them and the automobile companies whining about how they are losing money because nobody is buying them. A fifth grader (well, probably not anymore) could see this was going to be a problem, but did anybody DO anything? Nope.
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beatit051 year, 8 months ago
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Nice find =)
http://johan.fridayhosting.com/promote/index-1....
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agentX1 year, 8 months ago
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You need to cast evil spammer remover 5.
That's what the WoW field manual says.
Anyway, if the companies are making 145billion, why do they still need tax credits?
Isn't that the point of tax credits, to help out a fledgling industry?
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Harbeas1 year, 8 months ago
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It is so discouraging to watch our government refuse to develop an energy policy that has been sorely needed for decades. The only way we can change that is to change the people in government. I am not just talking about the president either. We need to take a very close look at those senators and congressmen/women who are the real culprits here.
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Lurch1 year, 8 months ago
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Jimmy Carter, the last man with any integrity to hold the position of CiC.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps...
"We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren.
We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. By acting now, we can control our future instead of letting the future control us.
The most important thing about these proposals is that the alternative may be a national catastrophe. Further delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation.
Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern. This difficult effort will be the "moral equivalent of war" -- except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not destroy."
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Lurch1 year, 8 months ago
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Carter created it, congress approved it, Reagan killed it. If only...
http://www.energybulletin.net/9657.html
"In June or July of 1981, on the bleakest day of my professional life, they descended on the Solar Energy Research Institute, fired about half of our staff and all of our contractors, including two people who went on to win Nobel prizes in other fields, and reduced our $130 million budget by $100 million," recalls Denis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day, who had been hired by Carter to spearhead the solar initiative.
Reagan and Congress stopped aggressively pushing new auto efficiency standards, acceding to Detroit's desire to leave them at Carter-era levels. They let the solar tax benefit expire, and the nascent solar industry went belly-up.
"For the industry that has gained by far the most subsidies and tax advantages from the federal government ever in American history to talk about the free market is slightly ironic," he says.
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flyonthewallzz1 year, 8 months ago
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I am a dummy:
It may be worth while for all the smart folks here to google stuff like:
The Paley Commission: 1952 report that predicted oil shortages and recommended "aggressive research in the whole field of solar energy - an effort in which the United States could make an immense contribution to the welfare of the world."
The Oil spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF): Basically the industry paid a nickel a barrel for a while (after the Valdez) and now they are not liable for damages they do more than their self insured amount.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR): As far as I can make out it is an ever fattening piggy bank for the industry. They can pay in "royalty in kind" instead of paying us royalties they fill the SPR with the type oil they don't really want. Almost half of the refineries can not efficiently process the stuff. Fuel prices go up whenever there is legislation to increase the fill. They are hoping to increase the capacity to a billion barrels.
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flyonthewallzz1 year, 8 months ago
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Google Standard Oil and Nazi:
"In fact, without the explicit help of Standard Oil, the Nazi air force would never have gotten off the ground in the first place. The planes that made up the Luftwaffe needed tetraethyl lead gasoline in order to fly. At the time, only Standard Oil, Du Pont, and General Motors had the ability to produce this vital substance."
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Bkumm1 year, 8 months ago
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Here's the worst part. Gasoline supplies are at record levels and there is a glut at the refineries. The record prices we're seeing at the pump are the result of speculation in oil. Can anyone say Great Depression? I knew you could.
Oh and flyonthewalzz, Big Oil is evil enough without the argument that they helped the Luftwaffe.
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Bkumm1 year, 8 months ago
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Which one? Let's not forget that the U.S. was not at war with Germany until December 11 of 1942. Anything previous to that, while odious in hindsight, is not illegal. To my knowledge Standard Oil did not do business with the NAZI's after 1942.
If you want to argue that American corporations don't care who they do business with as long as they make money, I'd agree with that, but to tie them in with the NAZI's to appeal to emotion simply weakens your argument.
One of the primary causes for the attack on Pearl Harbor, for instance, was the government of the United States ordering an embargo on oil (and scrap steel) to Japan. This was after nearly 15 years of selling Japan the means to make war in China. Yet, you don't mention those companies. Were the NAZI's bad? Certainly, but that isn't the point. The point is that the government of the US has the foresight and the courage of a bunch of six year olds.
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flyonthewallzz1 year, 8 months ago
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THE BUSINESS PLOT TO OVERTHROW ROOSEVELT
In the summer of 1933, shortly after Roosevelt's "First 100 Days," America's richest businessmen were in a panic. It was clear that Roosevelt intended to conduct a massive redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. Roosevelt had to be stopped at all costs.
The answer was a military coup. It was to be secretly financed and organized by leading officers of the Morgan and Du Pont empires. This included some of America's richest and most famous names of the time:
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Coup.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
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hdthehn1 year, 8 months ago
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Shell Oil recently bought Siemens Solar a manufacturer of solar panels and renamed the company Shell Solar. At first I thought they were seeing the writing on the wall that the days of oil as an energy source are numbered. But the prices at Shell Solar have increased dramatically and availability has diminished. They are quietly doing their part to keep renewable energy under wraps.
Private citizens have been organizing and producing some incredable results that can be found here: http://PanaceaUniversity.org
Subjects:
Magnetic Power
Moving Pulsed Systems
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Passive Systems
Vehicle Systems
Other Devices
Electronics Tutorial
Doubtful Devices
Renewable-Energy Devices
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