oil

All posts tagged oil

Drill. Now.

Posted by Robert on 7/26/2008
Posted in: Rants. Tagged: , , . Leave a Comment

Another summer is winding down. And, as normal, so are gas prices. Locally, I’ve seen over a dime per gallon reduction in the past week. So, is now the time to breathe a sigh of relief? If breathing a sigh of relief is all the US of A is going to do, then what about next time?

Next summer, when gas prices shoot up again? (it will certainly be higher than this summer)

This winter, when the cost of heating your home goes through the roof? (pun intended)

The next Mid-East confrontation? (Iran is not going to back down, what are the Vegas odds that they wont come to blows with someone? and when that happens, it WILL affect the price of oil)

Until we have no more money to donate to OPEC?

How long before new nuke plants come online? (oh yeah, the do-nothing Congress has to give the green light first)

How long before solar energy tech is cheap enough so that everyone can afford to put a solar panel on the roof of their house?

How long before 50+ mpg cars are in mainstream production and every American can afford one as easily as a 10 mpg clunker?

Until then, this country needs cheap oil. It may not be available tomorrow, but we can start now. Prepare for it now. Do our homework now. Break ground now.

Drill now. Then we can breathe a sigh of relief. Until then – hold your breath.

From Tax Break To Tax Hike

Posted by Robert on 7/19/2008
Posted in: Stuff That Pisses Me Off. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

The political vision of a summer gas tax holiday died a quick death in Congress, losing to a view that federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel — far from dropping — will have to go up if they go anywhere.

Despite calls from the presidential campaign trail for a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day tax freeze, lawmakers quickly concluded — with a prod from the construction industry — that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.

Now, lawmakers quietly are talking about raising fuel taxes by a dime from the current 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.3 cents on diesel fuel. -Fox News

If us peasants can’t afford gas as it is, how is another hike at the gas pump going to keep the highway trust fund out of the red?

Government collects more tax on a gallon of gas than the oil companies make in profit, yet we see who Congress points the finger of blame at at. I didn’t know that colleges offered degrees in hypocrisy, but it appears that this is the degree that is required to get a job at the Capitol Building.

It was Democrat Bill Clinton who claimed to “feel your pain.” It is now the Democrat-controlled Congress who inflicts it.

Breaking Big Oil

Posted by Robert on 1/18/2007
Posted in: Ramblings. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

Reuters
The new Democratic-led House of Representatives passed legislation on Thursday aimed at “Big Oil” that would roll back some industry tax breaks and force energy companies to pay more drilling royalties, valued at $14 billion over 10 years.

Alright, lets see if my math is correct. If currents estimates are right and the United States consumes 146 billion gallons of gas per year, then the oil companies would only have to sneak in less than one cent per gallon to make up for the loss. We pay slightly more, big oil keeps their profit margin (you don’t really think they’ll give it up do you?) and the congressional Democrats get to strike a Superman pose like they actually did something.