Back                                                            Gas prices:

I can remember when Gas was really in short supply. We had gas lines, where you could wait for hours to fill up. You could only buy gas every other day. The odd numbered license plates on odd days and the even on even days. People gas isn't in short supply, it's only expensive. That's what the Oil Companies want.

$4.09: That's the last price I paid for a gallon of gas. When the Bush administration came into office just under 8 years ago it was $1.64 and George Bush demanded that Bill Clinton put pressure on the oil companies.  Meanwhile the oil companies are reporting record profits.

I'm getting tired of the Right wing smear machine blaming everything on the Democrats: So here are the facts I've gained by watching the Senate & House hearings.

1. George Bush and the Republicans had full control of the Senate, House, Supreme Court & the Executive Branch for the first six years of the administration yet did nothing about the looming energy crisis. It wasn't till last year that Bush even admitted that there was a problem and then only to state that "America is addicted to oil." Now all of the sudden the democratic party is responsible for the price of gas. People I can remember Jimmy Carter saying the same thing during his administration back in 1977. During his first year in office he tried to push an energy policy of research and conservation. Maybe, just maybe, now we'll listen but I'm not going to wager my house on it.

Don't get me wrong. Bill Clinton also had full control of the senate and congress during his early years and he also didn't do much to end the crisis but at least his V.P. didn't say that driving more would help our economy, as Dick Cheney did.

2. I'm told (Mostly by Fox News) that we should open more lands to the oil companies. (Including ANWR {Artic National Wildlife Refuge}) Then I find out that the Oil Companies already hold leases covering 68 million acres of prime drilling land right now and refuse to even explore them.  (Now Fox is saying that the lands the oil companies hold the leases on don't have oil or have very little.) My question is: Why, if those lands have so little oil, do the companies keep holding them. (Use them or loose them.)

As for why the oil companies hold the leases. Most of the leases are held by the multinational companies and in my opinion are only held so that the small independent companies (Who have reason to drill.) don't bring the wells to production and increase the supply.

Again, I can remember when the oil supply was really below the demand. It was in the 70's and we had gas lines. You could only by gas every other day (Odd # license plates on odd days & even on even days.) and were only allowed to buy a certain amount of gas.  Are we being manipulated into paying more then is necessary?

Update: I just learned that the major oil companies have already drilled and capped several producing wells in an area west of ANWR much closer to the existing pipeline but aren't working to extend the pipeline to the wells. If they already have oil wells in an area that is suppose to have 10 times the oil that exists in ANWR and aren't trying to pipe it to market what makes us think they will extend the pipeline much farther to the wells they may find in ANWR?  See National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska and Green Peace but don't bother to cut and paste the Bureau of Land Management website they give you as it is mysteriously closed, even though they say they are suppose to open again on March 1st 2008.

3. We need to build more refineries. I agree, so why haven't the oil companies built them and why are they only refining at 85% of the capacity they already have. They are the ones who closed down most of the ones they had. Plus they have the rights to build more as long as they meet specifications.

4. The U.S. Dollar has fallen to record lows against almost every country in the world, So a dollar buys less in foreign countries, including oil. Another victory for Bin Laden. (The cost of the war in Iraq has forced us to borrow billions from the rest of the world and a debtor nation is a less valuable investment.)

5. Then I hear about the "Enron Loophole" that allows investors, such as hedge funds, to manipulate the market in oil futures and drive up the price.

6. On FOX News I hear that the cost of all food products are going to go up (They are) because of the corn that is being diverted for use in Ethanol.  Then I watch a Senate hearing with the top consultants in the agriculture industry and they testify that we are producing twice the amount of corn then we did 5 years ago and shipping more to the rest of the world then we ever have. They say that the amount used in producing ethanol is only a small amount of the total produced.  Fox news also said that we have received no benefits from that ethanol. Another hearing (This time it was the House and oil executives) and the Top people in the oil industry, when asked if taking ethanol out of the mix would effect the price of gas and if so how much? All said gas would be at least 15% Higher. (As for the price of food going up: Why doesn't Fox News look into the declining dollar? Or the cost of transportation (Bringing food to market from across the country. Are they afraid that that would put the spotlight on the war in Iraq.)

7. I find out that almost 90% of all oil drilled in Alaska is shipped overseas to the international market. Some of it going to the war effort. (Why can't we use the Iraqi oil? Hell we're suppose to be fighting for their freedom!) After all they are running a surplus while we're running a deficit.

7a. Speaking of the world oil market. Any oil drilled in the U.S. would also be a part of that market and would be competing with the OPEC countries in pricing and with only 2 % of the world supply being in our country wouldn't have much effect on the price of gas.

8. George Bush is still adding to the "Strategic Oil Reserve". Why the hell would you buy oil at the highest price and store it. Number one, your cutting into the supply and that alone would have to make the cost go higher. Number two, your wasting tax money on a over priced commodity. People the Oil Reserve is at 90% of capacity. Why not wait till the price is lower.  (Could it be that the administration is full of oilmen?)

9. Last Night 6/23/08 I stayed up till after 2:30 watching the Senate hearings on the effect of the futures market on price of gas, heating oil & diesel fuel. All the top Hedge Fund CEO's said the same thing, though some went farther. They agreed that the cost of a barrel of oil would be much less it the government closed the loop holes in the market, especially the ENRON loophole. One said it would be about $65. per barrel and the highest said maybe $80. People that means that speculation is almost doubling the cost. We can't drill our way out of speculation. They also said that the drop in the value of the dollar is also responsible.

Their recommendation was legislation to close the loopholes and to require openness in the trading. Speculation is one thing, manipulation is another. When asked by a republican (Trying to defend the speculators {Wall Street.} and the administrations policies.) "Wouldn't that effect the market causing a lose to all the funds that people have their pensions invested in?" (Not his exact words but close.) They to a man said the same thing. "The market investment in energy futures is only around 5 % and the lowering of fuel prices that would result by closing the loopholes would stimulate the economy, increasing the value of the other 95 % of their holdings resulting in a profit."

10. I recently found out that 330,000 gallons of diesel fuel is being shipped out of the country, to the world market, every day.

11. We have about 2% of the known oil reserves that exist in the world and the oil market is a world oil market so the very best we could do (If we drilled all of our oil.) would be to bring down the cost of oil by 2 cents on the dollar.

12. I recently found out that instead of exploring their leases and doing research into new energy sources the major oil companies have been using their profits to buy back their own stock. People this only gives them more power over us.

13. For all the people that think that we can drill oil in the Gulf of Mexico without any hazard to the environment read this and follow the links to see the real truth. People, we are still paying the cost of the Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska's coast. Lost fishing grounds have devastated the region. Let's just imagine what something on that order were to happen along the gulf coast of Florida. It wouldn't only effect the tourist income for the state but would ripple outward into the general economy by cutting federal tax revenues from closed businesses and the resulting unemployment.

14. I mentioned before that Nuclear Power was a good idea. and it is. (But for the waste.) But can we ever feel really safe? Accidents happen. Remember the Union Carbide Chemical plant in Bhopal, India? or the Nuclear Power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine? How about Three Mile Island?  I'm not saying we shouldn't use more nuclear energy, only that we should be aware of the risks. Men aren't infallible.

14a. Plus, as I mentioned before, our infrastructure is old and in need of repair. This also applies to our nuclear power plants. Recently part of a cooling tower in a power plant in Brattleboro Vt. Collapsed. This didn't cause a safety problem but does show us that there is a problem with the age of our plants. Age has a way of weakening man made structures and when these structures contain an element as deadly as nuclear fuel we can't sit back and ignore any deterioration. Use Nuclear power but use it with care.

How do we free ourselves from imported oil?

Let's face the facts:

1. There is only a finite amount of oil under the earth and it is going to get harder and harder to recover. More and more people around the world are going to need more of it. (India & China - Indonesia & Peru, hell all of the third world countries are starting to drive more cars.) Not to mention many are industrializing and will need more electrical power.

2. I've traveled through Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia. Not only in the major cities but also the small towns and even the country hamlets did the smell of raw gasoline hang in the air. Some of you might be too young to remember when Los Angeles had days on end of smog (key in Smog). when people had to wear smog masks (or just a cloth over their mouths and noses) Well the police that control the traffic in Southeast Asia still do. They even had smog warnings when they advised the old, very young and people with respiratory problems to remain indoors. Luckily we've passed laws on pollution and can once again breath freely.

3. As I said before: We can't drill our way out of the problem & even if we could, the oil companies have plenty of productive lands to drill on right now. We have to find new, renewable resources.

4. Plus if the oil companies bring the oil to market, from the leases the hold, It would increase the supply and bring down the price, costing them money. I wonder if it would be possible to sever the ties between the oil producers and the refining and distributions companies. i.e. One company has the right to explore and drill the oil but has to sell it to another that would refine it and sell the final product to the public. That way the companies that hold the leases would make no profit from sitting on the oil. They would be forced to produce the crude oil or make no profit. Isn't it a monopoly when one company holds all aspects of an industry and can control the final price.

5. For as long as I can remember, the conservationists and the democratic party have been screaming that we have to invest in research, While the republicans have opposed it. Now all of the sudden I hear John McCain and his republican friends saying we have to increase the cafe standers. George Bush is stating that Global Warming is real. Where was he five, no, even two years ago.

Oh, I know, I've heard FOX news and their experts yelling that Global Warming is just a theory, but I also understand that their experts (A small handful of the scientists in the world..) are subsidized by the same people that stand to gain the most by not allowing the truth to come out, and even if they are right what do we loose by refusing to stand by and let the possibility of global warming come to pass. Thousands upon thousands of jobs will be created and fuel will be saved, just by going green. No worker can refit our homes for energy efficiency unless he does it right here in the good old U.S of A. It's a job that can't be exported. New rail and mass transit lines, power grids etc. would create jobs right here at home.

6/26/08: The House is voting on aid to mass transit. A democratic bill is on the floor. I was listening to the debate. (People why is it that Europe and Asia are so far ahead of us in mass transportation. Bullet trains connect cities all over Europe and Japan yet we're still poking along at a relative snails pace. Their subways are way more efficient and even their highways are better). Sorry, I got a little of the track.

As I said I was listening to the debate and two Republican members were saying that mass transit wouldn't help their constituents in anyway at all because there was no mass transit in their states and that we have to increase production of energy (i.e. Drill.) Now let's think about that. Wouldn't an increase in the use of mass transit decrease the use of fuel by taking cars off the road and wouldn't that in essence decrease the demand which would in effect increase the supply and bring prices down.

It would be a lot cheaper to transport food and other products by rail. Oh, we have to build more fright yards and maybe rail lines but oranges from Florida transshipped by rail to truck, say in Philly or New York would surly cut down on fuel use, not to mention the added benefit of having less wear and tear on our roads and making the highways safer?

6. Nuclear Power: A Great idea, except that the spent fuel rods have to be stored and the half life of the some of the waste is 24,000 years. So until we find a place to store this waste we have to go slow. If we can get the OK to use Yucca Mountain, it would be a start.

6 a. There is also the problem of the cost of building a nuclear power plant and the time it takes to bring one on-line. The best estimate I could fine was around 6 billion per plant. 80 % of which would come out of the tax payers pockets. I also have to mention the proliferation of nuclear waste, (that would have to be guarded, since we have no central location for it's disposal.) which could be used in a dirty bomb.

7. So what's left?: Conservation, Wind, Solar, Geothermal, Hydro, Biomass, Tidal, Wave, and probably some I've missed. People in the early 1960s J. F. Kennedy asked us to land on the Moon in the decade and we did. Since that time we've sat back and praised ourselves while our world has slowly gone down hill. Oh, we've had some great achievements but not nearly as many as we could have had. It's time to pull together, once again, on a inspiring mission. Let's get to work and find that fuel that will take us into an energy rich future. Maybe, just maybe we can also create a better economy for everyone.

I just happened to think. In the olden days we had "Water Mills." where water in a creek, stream, river or waterfalls, would drive a wheel that turned a millstone. These were used to grind grain into floor. Now the ocean has major currents, almost rivers in the ocean. The Gulf Stream, Labrador Current, Humboldt Current, California current, etc. Wouldn't these major currents be a good place to install water wheels?

This research can be paid in part by taxing the Oil Companies on their windfall profits.

8. How can we help?

8a. Drive at 55 m.p.h. or less.

8b. Keep our tires filled at the right air pressure.

8c. Replace the old light bulbs with the new energy efficient light bulbs.

8d. Make sure our homes are properly insulated.

8e. Use thermal glass in all windows & doors.

8f.  How about putting a hot house around our decks. (If we have one.) The windows could be opened in the summer and with screens would give you a bug free area. In the winter the heat they hold would help heat the house. Plus you could use a part of it to grow food or at least spices.

8g.  Get a bike. Riding to the grocery store and back would save gas and give you some exercise. It might be a good idea, in some cities and small towns to talk to the town council about having bike paths built.

8h. Have solar panels placed on your roof. (Only a good idea if you get a lot of sunlight and have the money to put up front.)

8i. Recycle: It uses less energy to recycle items then it does to create new ones from raw materials, plus all plastics are made from petroleum. Better reused then sitting in a dump.

9. How about small wind turbines for homes. These could be placed on the roof to drive a generator which could charge a battery. They already have then for boats and would work very well along the cost, where you have on shore and off shore breezes almost constantly.

More coming:

I learned, a few days ago that BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total are in the process of getting no bid contracts to service Iraq's largest oil fields. Then I remembered John McCain's statement.

"I just want to promise you this, my friends," McCain said in Denver, "I will have an energy policy, that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East. That will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East."

I wonder if this was ever talked about before? Maybe in the closed meeting between Dick Cheney and the major energy companies on our energy policy before the war?

I wrote a this article on energy for the 2004 Presidential race. See what I said then and compare it to what I just wrote.  The biggest difference is that at that time Gas was under $2.00     Al

I sent a copy of this article to an old friend, from the days after my high school graduation, and she said she had a problem with taxing the oil companies

People I'm not a big tax and spend person but we have to spend on research & what I was talking about was only taxing the wind fall profits that the oil companies have made from the increase in gas prices caused by the speculation. This was money they never expected.

The oil companies already get large tax breaks, which they were expected to use for research and development (Something they have done very little of recently.) Remember the crud oil they make their money from is drilled from lands that belong to all of us. I'm not against their making a profit from that commodity, after all they are the ones that make it possible for us to use it. What I am against is their squeezing every penny of profit out of us, while making huge profits for themselves.

People, it's time we pull together, hold our politicians feet to the fire and demand that they hold big business responsible for their actions.

07/09/08: On Hannity & Colmes Rudy Giuliani said that "France gets 80% of it's power from nuclear and we only get 20%". He's right of course but compare the size and population of the two countries. It was a misleading statemant.

07/16/08: Hennity again made a statement that the "Oil Companies" weren't drilling on their leases because "There isn't any oil on their leases." I'd like to ask a question. Why, if there isn't any oil on those leases do the oil companies keep holding them? Remember they have to pay for the leases. We already know that they have capped wells on the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska that they aren't bringing to market & why are they just starting to drill for the natural gas that lies in western Pa. Most of that land is privately owned and all they would have to do is agree to a contract with the land owner. Is Hennity so stupid as to believe everything that the Oil Companies say. Maybe I should sell him a used car.

On the same show he had as a guest, Newt Gingrich. One of the statements that Newt made was that If we started to "Drill here, Drill now." the price of oil would almost immediately drop by almost half. How the hell does he think that (since we have 2% of the worlds oil reserves.) drilling would bring down the world oil prices by 50%? Scroll down to U.S. on this page to understand what I'm talking about. I wish FOX news would look up their facts before misleading the American public.

7/19/08:  Excuse me but isn't it always the Republicans who are against the redistribution of wealth? Why then, during a house hearing on the futures market in oil, did I hear a republican ask the question (Defending the traders.) "Isn't most of the speculation done by Pension and other hedge funds? And wouldn't it hurt the common person if we put controls on the market?" People, I don't know about you but I feel that making the price of gas & heating oil higher, (just to fill the pockets of stock investors) is just that, a redistribution of wealth. I guess redistribution is OK as long as it goes from the poor to the wealthy.

7/22/08: Glenn Beck while hosting "Larry King Live" asked guest Ben Stein a leading question. "Wouldn't drilling in ANWR and offshore bring down gas prices?" (I could tell he was sure of the answer, but he got a surprise.) "Probably not." Ben answered to Glenn's surprise. "But" Glenn continued, sure he had Ben. "Hasn't it dropped over $12. a barrel in just three days since President Bush lifted the moratorium?" Ben's answer again set him back. "That drop wasn't because of the lifting of the moratorium but because Congress is talking about closing the "Enron Loophole" and the investors are running scared." The words aren't exactly right but close enough.

We know, of course, that Glenn won't change his thinking. No expert can insert an idea into a stone wall. Glenn's mind has been made up and no amount of intelligent reasoning can change it now.

7-24/08: Just what we need. I just saw the news that tugboat pushing an oil barge ran into a tanker spilling 400,000 gallons of heavy oil into the Mississippi closing the river for 47 miles from New Orleans south to Venice. The closure is expected to last days if not longer. People, this spill is closing the Port of New Orleans, one of the main ports on the lower Mississippi and is expected to cost $100,000 a day, not counting the losses to workers and businesses that use the port. Not only that but what about the damage to the wildlife & fishing industry. How long will the damage last? We still are finding a lack of fish in the area of the Exxon Valdez oil spill 19 years ago off Alaska. Now just imagine what would happen to the tourist industry if the same thing happened off the pristine beaches of western Florida?

T Bone Pickens a staunch conservative republican and partial supporter of the "Swift Boating" of John Kerry, recently renounced his previous Republican affiliation in order to focus the nation's attention on green energy. This formal "Oil Man", who has made billions on the black gold, said that we have to face facts and realize that the time of oil is almost over and we have to look for new forms of energy. People if anyone would know, who more then a formal oil billionaire. See his plan Here.  Warren Buffet (another billionaire) is also investing heavily in wind energy and you can do more research Here. People don't let the Republicans and FOX News mislead you. Remember they are for big oil and are also using the energy crisis for political gain. If they were so worried about energy tell me why they didn't do anything about it during their time as the majority party, after all they had two years under George Bush when they could have done anything they wanted.   Al

7/29/08: I just learned that John McCain received $1,100,000.00 in campaign donations from Big Oil. Which doesn't surprise me as the long-term contributions have always benefited the republicans. But what really interested me was the fact that $880,000. of that money came since he announced his support for off-shore drilling. Not a bad pay off for a flip flop!

8/6/08: John McCain along with FOX News have been telling us how Obama has no energy plan and how McCain has such a good one. I'd like to point out that for the past 25 years nothing has been done and that McCain has been in the senate for most of that time.

I also like to point out that since 2/5/07  John McCain hasn't sponsored one energy bill, while Obama has sponsored seven.  Click Here & Browse Bills by Sponsor (Select a Senator) You'll also find that while Obama sponsored 129 bills, McCain only Sponsored 38. Here are the bills that were sponsored by Obama:

S.115 : A bill to suspend royalty relief, to repeal certain provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal certain tax incentives for the oil and gas industry.

S.133 : A bill to promote the national security and stability of the economy of the United States by reducing the dependence of the United States on oil through the use of alternative fuels and new technology, and for other purposes.

S.767 : A bill to increase fuel economy standards for automobiles and for other purposes.

S.1151 : A bill to provide incentives to the auto industry to accelerate efforts to develop more energy-efficient vehicles to lessen dependence on oil.

S.1324 : A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuel sold in the United States.

S.2224 : A bill to require a licensee to notify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the State and county in which a facility is located, whenever there is an unplanned release of radioactive substances.

S.AMDT.599 to S.CON.RES.21 To add $200 million for Function 270 (Energy) for the demonstration and monitoring of carbon capture and sequestration technology by the Department of Energy.

Now here are the plans of both candidates. Read them & decide for yourself. I've given you some things to think about and led you to the facts. Now it's up to who you believe and which way you think will produce the best results.   McCain    Obama  but remember every politician will say what they think you want to hear to get elected. I myself go by past voting records and John McCain has voted with Big Oil consistently and has oil lobbyists on his campaign, plus he got record campaign donations from them.   Al

Ouch! I just read McCain's energy policy and it sounds an awful lot like what Al Gore has been talking about. I wonder why he has been voting against almost all of the things he is now promoting?

8/29/08: I just got to wondering why the Republican Presidential Convention is being held in the Xcel Energy Center? Are we looking at, still, another administration that may hold the major energy companies above the welfare of the people?????

8/30/08: Hay, wait just a minute. Aren't we the ones who kicked Saddam out of power and helped to form and protect the new government of Iraq? They just signed a $3 billion oil deal with China! Well I guess that's gratitude for you.