Peter DeFazio Nails Republicans On Oil
By Nicole Belle Tuesday Apr 22, 2008 8:30pm
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR04) railed against the Republican special interests that prevent any real progress from being made on getting control over skyrocketing fuel prices and huge profits being realized by oil companies while consumers struggle with high fuel costs.
Now, there’s a few things we could do. Now, the president’s a big free trader, right? He’s trying to push us into more free trade agreements. They say they work great. He wants “rules-based trade.” Well, we’re in the WTO, they have rules. The rules say you can not restrict the supply of a commodity simply to drive up the price. That’s what OPEC’s doing. Now five members of OPEC are in the WTO. Will this president – the oil man –- the friend of the Saudis and the others – will he file a complaint in the World Trade Organization against OPEC? No. I wrote to him three years ago, asking him to do that. The answer was no. If the Saudis and the OPEC countries want to get together and collude to drive up the price of the oil, that’s just fine with George Bush. He’s all for free trade, and rules-based trade, except when the rules might hurt some of his buddies. And then, the oil industry just piggy backs on top of that.
The Gavel: The price for regular gasoline reached a record $3.53 per gallon today – 23 percent more than this time last year and 140 percent more than when President Bush took office. The Democratic-led Congress has passed a number of key bills to reduce the burden of rising gas prices on Americans and make America less dependent on foreign oil – but the President has threatened to veto each one. House Democrats call on President Bush to support House-passed legislation such as the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) Act, The Energy Price Gouging Act, and the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act and bring real relief to America’s families and businesses now.
Full transcript below the fold:
I believe it’s April Fool’s Day here on the floor of the House. To hear the members of the GOP – the Grand Old Oil Party – talking about how they’re there for the consumers, they want to do something to help American consumers. The same party that benefits disproportionately from massive campaign contributions from the oil and gas and coal industries. The same party that holds the White House, with two oil men in the White House. The same party, on the Senate side, defeated our energy provisions because they would have God forbid, made the oil and gas companies pay taxes like other members of the corporate committee. It would have taken away subsidies. They’re crying crocodile tears about the massive profits that their buddies are making, their campaign contributors, their sponsors. And the president, the oil man. And the vice president, the oil man supply services company.
Q: Will the gentleman yield?
No, I won’t yield. Thank you very much.
Now, there’s a few things we could do. Now, the president’s a big free trader, right? He’s trying to push us into more free trade agreements. They say they work great. He wants “rules-based trade.” Well, we’re in the WTO, they have rules. The rules say you can not restrict the supply of a commodity simply to drive up the price. That’s what OPEC’s doing. Now five members of OPEC are in the WTO. Will this president – the oil man –- the friend of the Saudis and the others – will he file a complaint in the World Trade Organization against OPEC? No. I wrote to him three years ago, asking him to do that. The answer was no. If the Saudis and the OPEC countries want to get together and collude to drive up the price of the oil, that’s just fine with George Bush. He’s all for free trade, and rules-based trade, except when the rules might hurt some of his buddies. And then, the oil industry just piggy backs on top of that.
Now, there is another thing they could do. They can help us with a provision we put in the Farm bill, which is stalled in the Senate, which would close the Enron loophole. Remember Enron? Ken Boy, the President's favorite guy? He just died before he went to jail. Well, the Enron boys convinced the Republican Congress to give them a special loophole, to deregulate energy commodities, to allow for massive speculation. And there is widespread agreement in the financial community that about 50 cents of the price that's being paid at the pump today is being paid purely because of speculation brought about by the Enron loophole. You really want to do something about the high price of oil? Help us close the Enron loophole. Get your president to file a complaint against OPEC for colluding to drive up the price of oil. Help strip out the taxpayers' subsidies to the oil, coal and gas industry. You are taking out of their wallets while you are taking it out of their pockets at the pump.
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Well, sure... that would cut into the W-man's profit margin!
Oh, and... FIRST!!! ;) heheh
That was blistering! Republicans actually tried to get him to shut up, and I loved it: "No, I will not yield. Thank you!"
Wow! Take that you fat cats!
I WILL NOT YIELD !!! Way to go DeFazio !
Dem. Rep. with a pair!?!
Next time I see a yokel with a W sticker at a gas station, I'm going to insist they buy my gas.
Bravo Mr DeFazio, Bravo ! Oh well, I guess it shouldn't surprise any of us that president Bush would sell out his country and it's people for profit. Sorry bastard....how dare he. And to find out that Enron was a part of our misery at the pump too. Jeez. I sure wish George Soros would air this youtube clip across every media outlet for 3 or 4 before the Nov elections. That should (at least) win the Dems enough seats to over-ride any presidential veto.
Thank you, Rep. Defazio. I hope you're on the comittee of the next administration that investigates and indicts the criminals that currently reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Unfortunately, if it's Billary or McSame, it'll be business as usual.
Unfortunately, if it's Billary or McSame, it'll be business as usual.
You can say that again
Can you say Peak Oil, OPEC does not have any spare capacity left. If you think its expensive now just wait a while, you wont be able to get gas at any price.
Was it the beatles that sang Revolution? Just asking.
The Republican Party is sinking under its own corruption, and dragging down our country with them, stealing the future of our nation's children and grand-children.
Zog The Obvious @ 1:
Oh, yeah "first".. yawn.
FUCK BUSH AND HIS REPUBLICAN CRONIES.
Why can't HRC and Obama talk like this?
That was a proper ass kicking, too bad it won't go any where because there are too many losers in office.
80% USA's foreign oil comes from Canada. Most of Canada's oil fields and companies are American. In Toronto,a gallon of gas is $4.80
Last week it was reported that Iraq's oil 20% of output Canada buys. Somehow it ends up in USA and why the scam?
There is no shortage of oil in north America. There is trillions of barrels in the great lake region,for thousands of more years. We got sucked in the 70's--oil would run out in 10 years. B.S. again and folks get sucked in again.
This guy's wrong. The Saudis no longer have excess capacity. They're pumping every barrel they can, and their big fields are in decline. Same with the rest of the Middle East. Same with Russia.
The UK was a major oil exporter for a couple of decades, but the North Sea is now so depleted, Britain has become an oil importer.
In 1996, China produced most of its own oil, importing 166 million barrels to meet total demand. In 2006, China imported 1,064,000,000 barrels. That's an increase of more than 6 times. Check out the chart on pages 172-3 of the National Geographic, May 2008.
World demand for oil is rising by 4% every year. Production is flat. Nothing DeFazio or Bush says can change this.
Force him and his to veto (or argue against) anything and everything by pushing/introducing people friendly bills for the rest of this session. Remember that we MUST win as many Congressional seats as possible, and these clowns have to be exposed for what they are.....
$3.53/gallon? Luxury!
We're paying over $3.60/gallon here.
The gop are blocking the Dems as usual.
They are stilll buying for the strategic reserve and will not release any.
Nothing will get done as usual.
Folks do you all remember back when gasoline prices had risen 5 or ten cents during President Clinton's administration. And the republicans went bananas and blamed Clinton. One in particular...fat butt Sennsennbrenner from WI, (I know it isn't spelled right but you know who I mean). He made the statement that President Clinton was at fault because he did not call the Saudis and get down on his knees and beg that they lower oil prices. In fact old Newt, and the rest made a big deal out of it.
WONDER WHY THEY ARE ALL SO DAMN QUIET NOW....And the same old Sens****** said this time, it would be beneath the dignity for the president of the US to request Saudis lower oil prices...see the dif.
I love Peter DeFazio and for a little guy that resembles Sam Drucker from Green Acres - I am proud to know he represents my beautiful state of Oregon. I am always impressed with what Peter has to say. Who in their right mind would tell him to "yield" while he is standing on the floor telling the truth? Would they have asked him to yield if he was lying, but on the side of Bush? I doubt that very much. We have all had enough of the lying and betraying of the American people while we are paying out the nose for gas. It was great to listen to him. Too bad Bush and Cheney weren't in the f*cking room while Peter was "telling the truth."
Annoyed Canuck @ 17:
The UK had a policy of exporting expensive light crude and imported cheap heavy muck.
He said:
If the Saudis and the OPEC countries want to get together and collude to drive up the price of the oil, that’s just fine with George Bush. He’s all for free trade, and rules-based trade, except when the rules might hurt some of his buddies. And then, the oil industry just piggy backs on top of that.
And this is utter crap. It is NOT political - it is geological.
FACT: Oil production has been FLAT (and actually declined) since 2005.
FACT: Oil demand is UP since 2005.
FACT: Mexico's biggest field, Cantarell, is now in 14% depletion rate.
FACT: The North Sea is also in double digit depletion rate.
FACT: The USA peak in 1970 and is producing a fraction of what it did then.
FACT: The oil companies only control 17% of the market.
FACT: National governments control 83% of the oil market.
FACT: Kuwait's largest field, Bhurgan, peaked in November 2005.
FACT: North American Natural gas peaked several years ago.
FACT: Nothing has the combination of energy density and transportability of oil.
FACT: Americans refuse to give up the Happy Motoring Society.
Add these facts together, and $4 a gallon gas is a freakin' DEAL. In 1995, oil was $18 a barrel, and gas was $1 a gallon. Oil is now $117 a barrel. If we scaled it proportionately, gas should be $6.50 a gallon today, but when it was $1 a gallon, nobody was weeping in their beer about getting ripped off by the Big Mean Oil companies.
This is all a load of hooey. The fact is: We are past peak and now all the fratricidal bitching and internal warfare is breaking out because people would rather play the blame game than realise that every single consumer decision they make has vast and powerfully far reaching effects that are the actual driving force of their own misery.
Get over it America - that means YOU TOO Democrats. YOU are ALL the problem.
Seems like the less innovation is made on alternative fuels, and the lack of progress accomplished in Iraq, the Bush cronys' pockets get deeper and deeper for such high maintenance. And still, we are a long, long way off from gas-free hybrid vehicles and flying cars...Allen Greenspan, among others, was right to assume that invading Iraq had a lot to do with their oil reserves.
Wow, that was great. Thanks for sharing that.
The oil companies and their cronies will make all their money through the summer (with prices still rising) and then the price will magically start dropping around two/two-and-a-half months before the election.
$4.07 a gallon for High Test here in Northridge CA today. Such bullshit.
Fuel costs are completely subsidized and are actually artificially low. You factor in the military costs of securing the extraction and transportation of foreign oil and you're really talking some big money per gallon. Not to mention when taking into account infrastructure etc. cars themselves are subsidized to the tune of about $7,000 each per year. And that doesn't count the health costs due to auto pollution which is in the billions per year.
The problem now is that too much of the money is going to the oil companies. That money should be taxed and spent on mass transit. The price of gas is never coming down again. It's a finite resource and too many other people need it now.
First, shut up tweakerbell. Jimmy Carter declared in 1979 that we were gonna be completely energy/oil independent by 2000 and Ronald Reagan came in and flipped that law the bird. Yes, in some way this is the start of the oil wars but I don't see them cutting back on the nascar schedule to conserve fuel. If 50% is consumed by cars, who's consuming the other 50%?
Okay these laws sound like they're full of it. First, the Price gouging act would empower the FTC to investigate and punish those that price gouge. So how long would an investigation take? Who would reap the benefits? What happens when the head of the FTC was a former Exxon executive? And then the President would declare an emergency; KATRINA!
Then the NOPEC act. Enable the justice dept to investigate foreign involvement in oil cartels. Again, what immediate relief does this provide? And then, what kind of long-term reform does this encourage? What happens when Exxon goes in and acts as a middleman between the U.S. and the cartels, ensuring that Exxon's word that the oil cartels are behaving means that for a nominal fee, we are assured everything's okay.
We will get screwed no matte how many laws they pass.
#17 your exactly right its all a scam, thats why they dont build gas refinerys anymore it keeps the supply low and the price high ,
A gallon of gas around here,Cincinnati,is 3.59.I wish I could find it at 3.53.I`m doing more walking,but this is ridiculous.This guy`s a fucking crook. Everybody in the country knows it ,but we`re a bunch of fucking victims.When the hell is someone going to call these guys on the carpet for their criminality for the last 7+years?
I hear about how stupid Bush is ;well he`s stupid all the way to the bank, and we`ve let him get away with murder,torture,fraud,lying his ass off.We get pissed off and do noyhing as all these assholes are laughing their ass off using our armed forces to get richer and our troops die for this shit?I`ll not pay another penny in taxes.They can lock my white ass up,but I`llnever pay the government to kill us again.
PEACE.
Annoyed Canuck @ 17:
I lived in California during the energy crisis in 2001. My landlord raised my rent over 20% for the length of the summer to offset our shared electric bills, and summer lasts 6 months in Fresno. We were both skipping the AC and getting by with fans. Sometimes there'd be brownouts and thus no fans, and no cold showers without power to pump the water and it'd be 96 degrees outside at 11:00 p.m. and 110+ inside. ENRON and those fuckers claimed that they were doing their best and it was all out of their hands. So I tend to think that energy companies and OPEC countries claiming "full production capacity" and that refineries are shut down for "needed repairs", well, I tend to think they're full of shit. On the other hand, it is "National Geographic" you are quoting and not "National Review". We can all agree, I think, that 9/11 would have been an obvious time for a president to call for a hefty gas-guzzler tax/fuel efficient car rebate, a hefty raise in new car fuel efficiency standards and an end to the SUV loophole. He could just say it was in the interest of national security and it would be true.
OPEC is a political club, it affects oil prices at the margins, but it does not drive prices.
There are no cartels in wheat, rice, gold, cooking oils (etc.) and prices have had similar climbs - who do you want to blame there?
WOW - who is this guy, and why haven't we seen him punching these guys in the nuts before?
That was amazingly refreshing.
Marge @ 22:
Yes! I do remember that! Also, didn't that lead to releasing some of the reserves? Gas prices dropped afterwards.
i`d love to see what was in that sectet energy deal that Cheney,Ken Lay and all the energy maggots planned in Bush`s first term.You remember,the ones right before Enron bilked California for electric right before Enron went belly up and Bush stopped calling Lay Kenny Boy.Those fuckers are eyeball deep in putting the screws to us.
It`s really interesting that State renewed Blackwater`s contract in Iraq.That`s where they`re training until something goes wrong in here.Then they`ll put their training to use--on us. Please pass the tinfoil, guys,for my tinfoil helmut.
Ken Lay is in Dubai, sucking down a mojito by his cabana. Waiting for Cheney to join him.
tweakerbell @ 25:
The fact is the oil companies spend millions of dollars each year on public relations. Some of that money pays for people to go into message boards and post information that is friendly to the oil companies. All of your statistics are complete and utter bullshit.
We are not buying into you shit so just go away.
Bye... bye...
george in toronto @ 17:
Oh so THATS why they are now developing the least profitable oil supplies in Canada...the oil sands. Yea, that makes perfect sense that they would spend billions more in producing oil from tar sands than just sinking a well in the Great Lakes region.
Next sign of oil scarcity? When they start to develop shale oil deposits.
Peter DeFazio:
Airforce vet: Check
Christian: Check
Kicks ass: Check
I agree with Chuck #40, all that "Fact" crap is either flat out lies, or misleading un-contextual obfuscation. Also remember, spot market price isnt is the real price. Oil producers by on "private" contracts not this PR BS propanda "futures" price. The "future" price is just a "Goerbles" fantasy projection used as cover to rape the oil consumer. Think of the "Wizard of Oz" here, ignore the man behind the curtain!!! Look at the "nasty" futures price and not ask us to reveal the "actual" price paid to the sheiks, emirs and their consorts.
shano @ 41:
I haven't seen a gas line since the late 1970s.
I haven't seen a sign on a gas station that reads, "Hopefully we will have gas next tuesday", since the late 1970s.
We DO NOT have a gas shortage.
The oil companies can charge what ever they want; because, oil executives are sitting in the White House.
Nice piece Nicole - but dont take your eye off the ball.
http://www.petroprobe.com/index.php?sc=3
1.5 trillion (with a T) barrels of oil shale in the US. More expensive to produce than light sweet - I remember reading years ago that oil would have to sell over $60/barrel to make it worthwhile. Well, Bush managed that.
What is 1.5 trillion barrels worth? (That is 7 times the reserves of Saudi Arabia).
Money will drive this conversation for the balance of this century. Watch US oil shale, US natural gas and Alberta oil sands (150 billion barrels).
And watch them knock down every environmental law put in their way. Al Gore is going to have his hands full.
We here in Oregon have wondered why no one has noticed Peter DeFazio for years. He is an intelligent, principled man who fights the good fight.
You think gasoline consumers are getting gouged, diesel is worse. $4.18/gallon today at the cheapest source in my area.
The other day the gangster who is the CEO of Exxon-Mobile said in testimony before congress that all of this was merely "cyclic pricing". that the industry has its up and downs, implying that beforewe know it, the price will be down. Nothing to worry about. the profits they make now will tide them over when profits aren't so good. $40'ish billion/quarter in profits? For one company? And that isn't gouging?
The problem with his premise is that we are in post-peak oil. There aren't going to be any more good times. Ever. So, by his logic, the profiteering should be allowed to continue into the infinite future?
The situation with diesel is puzzling, because it cost less to produce than gasoline. Yet, it is priced so high that it is destroying the trucking industry. Everything that is dependent upon trucks and rail (also driven by diesel fuel) is going to be driven up...substantially. The industry is using a number of excuses to justify the profiteering, but I think it represents a special case - not just gouging for good old fashioned avarice.
They are on the cusp of losing their monopoly over that fuel, due to the advent of bio-diesel. It is so easy to make that anybody can do it in their kitchen. And people are beginning to do just that. There are companies springing up all over the place making small to very large quanitites for their own use or for sale. And unlike ethanol, it isn't a losing prospect from the total energy cost versus usable energy derived perspective.
There is some legitimate concern that food oils are going to be used as fuel feddstocks, to such point that the hungry of the world are going to be competing for their lives with bio-diesel. However, there are so many non-food, inedible sources of vegetable oils available, that it need not be an either or situtation.
I just made about two liters of bio-diesel, one from waste grease, the other from inedible oils. The cost for everything, including energy, was about 20 cents and a little of my time, or about 35 cents a gallon. The oil companies can't compete with that, not even close. And, because it isn't too much more difficult than making a cappucino, the production capacity is growing very rapidly. Most states have by this point established environmental permitting and tax rules to facilitate the growing business, and the EPA has established all the water and air requirements that must be satisfied. Tax rules mirror existing fuel rules.
It's a global change that is taking place where ultimately, the oil companies are going to lose control of the diesel market. They are also going to lose control of the home heating oil market. Central control and monopoly is already slipping away from them. Their unprecendented high pricing of diesel is most likely an effort to extract as much profit as they can, while they still have the ability to make any profit at all on the commodities.
Peter deFazio = teh awesome. Growing up in his district (woohoo Eugene!), I have known this simple fact since I was about eight years old. For those who don't know him, here is a nice anecdote:
Every year in Eugene, OR they hold the annual "Eugene Celebration". This event always includes a parade celebrating the founding of the city. Every year, the parade includes an entry depicting the "official" state bird of the state of Oregon: the banana slug (if you don't know, don't ask). And ever since he was elected to office (long before I can remember), he has participated in the parade by being the "pooper scooper" for the banana slug, representing his commitment to cleaning up the overwhelming amount excrement coming from Washington these days. This man literally jogs several miles (I might add that he runs the city's annual 10k every year) with wheelbarrow in tow, all so he can give bring some levity in characterizing his job to his constituents, when all the while he fights like this in Congress. The man is truly an inspiration, and I hope that we can all learn something from him.
A nice, candid rant. Pelosi could learn something from this guy.
OPEC has nothing to do with the price of oil. There is a GLUT of crude oil on the market right now. It's being inflated far beyond its market price (between $45-60/barrel) by speculation and collusion between oil companies and the current American government. The Peak Oil meme is part of that strategy to inflate the price of oil.
Oil sands and shale are profitable anywhere above $60 a barrel, and there's more than 2 trillion barrels' worth of oil locked up in those on this continent. We're never going to run out of oil. Oil companies would rather drill the light sweet crude because it can be extracted for $1/barrel and sold for the ridiculously bubbled price of $120/barrel. They know that party isn't gonna last forever, so they're making every last cent of profit that they can off us.
Sid @ 50:
I dont entirely agree. In a world where the US must use shale and the price of crude is low, the US is at an economic disadvantage. The us needs the price of crude to be high to be competative using shale derived oil.
The issue remains, what kind of world will we live in where protection of the environment is placed after energy production? Something from the home of Baron Harkonen comes to mind.
The US military burns through 350,000 bbl of oil every day.
Again C&L, after all that has happened in the economy, you STILL cling to the fallacy that oil prices have something to with the Republicans. For the billionth time, IT DOESN'T.
Oil prices are rising because the value of the dollar is plummeting.
If money were not fiat paper, but gold, then the price of oil would be CONSTANT. Got it? CONSTANT!!!!
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/oil-gold-commodit...
See that horizontal line? That means that if gold were money, and not worthless fiat paper, then the price of oil would be FLAT.
The crisis in our economy, for the billionth time, is because of central bank INFLATION of the money supply. Prices are going up not because of a supply issue, but because the value of the dollar is falling. The value of anything declines when there is more of it.
Yes the Republicans have messed things up....BAD....but we have to focus on truth 100% of the time in order to make a positive difference. We have to call a duck a duck and realize that it is the Federal Reserve, coupled with neo-con philosophy, that is causing our economic woes.
Please start to critique the Federal Reserve. Not only would you be correct in doing so, but your visitor traffic would SKYROCKET, believe me. You could be the light at the end of the tunnel. Please don't lose it.
It's not yet all peak-oil. It's low dollar value.
In Euro's the oil didn't get much more expensive.
Peak oil will be on-top of what is going on now.
Sorry Drew, didn't read it..
Good going Peter , I wish pussy foot Harry had some balls and integrity too .
Drew @ 53:
Central banks arent going away. I would love to discuss this, but this isnt the place.
Energy drives the economies of the world. Cheap energy prevents the US from leveraging the one advantage they have in this area - shale derived oil, which - central bank or not - isnt cheap.
Now that was a 3 minute smackdown! "Will the gentlman yield his time?" Hell no!
Drew @ 53:
I agree with what you are saying about the Federal Reserve Board; however, I do feel a need to point a few things out to you.
Oil Companies are vertically organized companies. They control and own every aspect of production. They own the wells. They own the tankers. They own the refineries. They own the trucks that take the gas from the refinery to the gas station. Finally, they own the gas station.
In short, international currency exchange rates have little if any effect on the price of gas; because, no currency is actually exchanged during the production to market process.
"The rules say you can not restrict the supply of a commodity simply to drive up the price."
Does this WTO rule, also apply on speculation with commodity?
If not, why not? What is the difference here?
chuck @ 59:
The oil companies do not own the oil in the ground.
They have to buy it; HAVE TO in dollars (Nixon deal with OPEC).
Cas @ 61:
History - that is changing. Get used to the petro-euro.
anon @ 57:
The Federal Reserve Board is a scam, to enrich a handful of powerful bankers, cooked up by President Hoover. It's the last remaining vestige of the economic system that created the Great Depression. It is surprising that it has lated as long as it has.
What we need in this country is a rechartering of the National Bank.
Let the National Bank deal with home loans and personal insurance issues such as healthcare or homeowners insurance.
This would force the private banks to invest in industry and business; thereby, creating real economic growth.
Allowing private banks to make money off of home loans and insurance has created a bubble of fictitious economic growth that has undermined the real economic growth of our country.
This is why everybody invests in the stock market or real estate; but, nobody builds factories; as a consequence, our standard of living falls every year.
anon @ 62:
"History - that is changing. Get used to the petro-euro."
Unfortunately, Europe will make the same tempting mistake, by using the fact that the whole wold start trading in Euro's.
It will be tempting to borrow zillions, like the US did and still does. A country like Italy has big retirement problems, and proto fascists like Berlusconi will not think twice to screw up the Euro agreements..
concerning #40. Chuck, his facts check out. We ARE at peak oil. And the only way we can solve problems is to admit them. Then we can fix things. But to call these facts false and then tell the guy to go away reeks of DENIAL!!
We ARE at peak production and it will just get worse from here. Deal with it!
I use to wait on him at the Sandpiper in Roseburg, and John Kitzhaber. John a big part of Roseburg while Peter a part of Eugene. Both places a world apart and yet so close to each other. Both like to workout lifting weight, and when I first moved to Roseburg, I had no idea who they were for years. When I see them, they always ask if I am still lifting.
I have never seen Peter this fired up before. I wrote Peter about doing something to protect restaurant workers wages when the owner are now require employees to tip out the owner, while making the employee declare all the tips, so they get the money tax free. AppleBee's got nailed for it, but I am hoping we can get better protection for those in the min wage range. Anyway, Peter was there for me.
I think the point is that oil corporation are not dealing with it, they are dealing out of it. The one president that work hard to conserve oil was hated for it by the oil man in the house. Almost every republican lip say that Jimmy Carter was the worst president.
paranoia @ 67:
Mr. Carter almost made peace in the Middle East last week.
That can't be right!
paland @ 65:
Cas @ 61:
http://www.energybulletin.net/22381.html
Chuck; ok, let there be a supply "plateau" of a few decades.
But the demand will still rise. We are now with 6 billion people who hate walking, and this will go up to 9 (not more according Gore, but I'm not so sure about that).
So the price will rise and rise.
I don't think the wold will end because of that, but something has to give.
Will Pelosi issue an apology for one of the democratic members being and acting like a Democrat?
So the big ol' 18 wheeler gas truck pulls in to your local station on Sunday and refills the pumps for you and me, when the barrel price is (?... can't even keep track now) ...so and so dollars a barrel... 2 days later, every station on the 4 station petro crossroads from hell corner has the gas twenty cents higher, AND... all the stations are ALL the same price, (give or take a couple of cents), yet it's the same gas that was (insert price here) paid for last week at (one guesses) the OLD, cheap, last week's price... and these different companies (Shell, Mobil, Exxon, etc.) haven't agreed to a price fix? wake up!
We are getting ROYALLY screwed. By everyone that has anything to do with oil or gas, coming, going, sideways, etc. The only bright spot in this is that, perhaps the fuckhead auto CEOs that are sitting on good electric/hybrid plans will get the shit in motion... if we don't go bankrupt as a nation first. (And all this time I thought we were invading oil rich nations to keep the terrorists at bay... with perhaps a few perks along the way)
Wait, there's more clips at The Gavel:
Reps Jay Inslee, Ed Markey and Bart Stupek.
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1302
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1302
And if anyone hasn't seen "Who Killed the Electric Car?" yet, you're doing yourself a disservice.
To expand on the electric/ hybrid thesis, I'm well aware that coal and other nasty technologies make most of our electric grid (I'm from western VA). I can't help but think if the trillions of dollars spent on this useless war war diverted to say, solar panels and a chicken in every pot .... call me an elitist.
Bullshit. It has EVERYTHING to do with the REPUBLICANS.
The value of the dollar is plummeting precisely because BUSHCO and the Repugs are borrowing in excess of a TRILLION dollars from foreign interests to pay for this goddam war.
(That was in response to #53)
I love how people state that if gas prices were correctly adjusted, we'd be paying so much more- as if the oil companies are somehow selling gasoline at a loss, while at the same time making huge profits. And how many times have I heard that "peak oil" has been hit. Later, is if by magic, another source or supply comes along, oil prices drop, and we all forget about moving away from using petroleum until the next crisis. Regardless of the cost of oil, we need to fund alternative sources of energy that does not involve sending billions of dollars to countries that finance terrorism against us. And then there are the occasional regional conflicts that entangle our country in small scale wars that are much more costly that the mere price per barrel for oil.
O.K. one more post. I remember the tales of my grandfather and great grandma about WWII and how we all pitched in and had to conserve (steel, rubber, food, gas) ... meanwhile, Buchco. still keeps buying the oil, at $120 a barrel, sitting on our reserves. We as a nation can go on strike if our leader has the balls to take us there, (FDR? ) can you imagine Bush asking the nation to take a day off in protest? ( and save energy, and our nation?) Oh yeah, forgot, too much money to be lost, more important than the country.
Free market is a cool idea, but only so far. (I like real free markets, hate corporate welfare) These corporations get so fat... imagine the fat guy at a nice country club pool. He falls, starts to sink (because he's had one too many muhitos) but the life guard (our gov.) is a skinny punk with a cell phone, who has a private number to a specialized crack (and yes, perhaps it may as well be crack) team of fat guy pool savers , meanwhile the fat corporate welfare blob is clinging to the lifeline... dragging... us .... deeper....
I think about the uber-rich and ask sometimes "why do you need more?" but I think most of the time it's the machine that wants "more".
At this point I know there will always be a "machine" ... civilization ya' know... we need it, i like it. But can we not refine the rules, the cogs? These assholes are really too much to endure.
(as long as I'm posting
deeper... if he's (it, them) is fatter than dot. gov... well
It's sad what passes for enlightened energy views in the US these days. I'm all for blaming Republicans, but could we move the arguments out of the 1970s? Controlling the price of oil is really beyond OPEC these days. Gas has been way underpriced in the US for a long, long time. It would be nice if the Democrats could offer us a 21st Century energy policy, instead of dated gimmicks of blaming OPEC and bogus sloganeering about energy independence.
that was what we should be hearing and more often. it would be nice to hear the repube responce because in my mind i would imagine there was a lot of "hummina hummina hummina" in it. but the sad fact is, repubes are never swayed by facts. cold hard facts. what dems need to do is hire a P.R. group similar to the repubes. get the message out loud and often. hell if it works for them without truth or facts, it would do wonders for the progressive side. if "repeat a lie till it becomes like a truth" can work, repeating the truth until people demand change shoud be a cake walk. if rep. DeFazio's words become the mantra for three weeks, things will happen. these are words too true and powerful to be heard only on the floor and cspan. thankfully we have cspan because without it, and blogs, his speech would have been a tree falling in the forest.
stevie @ 75:
They print unfunny amounts of funny money. inflation does the rest.
Its merely the amount of pretend dollars in circulation, no coincidence that M3 reports were removed from the public gaze.
The official M3 reports would have have shown in black white and red the dubious financial policy in detail,
the 'M3' can be unofficially reconstructed by financial analysts, this is why theres no confidence in the dollar anymore.
OWNED!
For all you "Fact" listers who say this man is full of shit, here are more FACTS:
FACT: Soaring oil prices lifted Chevron Corp.'s annual profit to $18.7 billion in 2007, the fourth consecutive year that the San Ramon company made record amounts of money.
FACT: Exxon Mobil made history on Friday by reporting the highest quarterly and annual profits ever for a U.S. company, boosted in large part by soaring crude prices.
FACT: ConocoPhillips (COP), the nation's third-largest oil and gas producer, said Wednesday that first-quarter profit rose 13% as stronger exploration and production results yielded its strongest first-quarter earnings since Phillips and Conoco combined in 2002.
FACT: Oil executives have already said they don’t need the tax breaks. In testimony before a joint hearing of the Senate Committees on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Energy and Natural Resources on Nov. 9, 2005, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden asked executives from these same five oil companies:
FACT: Americans (and the rest of the world) are consuming gasolene at a record pace but what's the alternative? What has the Bush administration done to encourage production for alternative means of transportation and lower emissions? President Bush recently set a goal of halting the growth of greenhouse gases by 2025, calling for elimination of clean-energy international trade barriers but stopping short of specific proposals to mandate carbon emissions caps.
FACT: How much conventional oil is there left in the ground? Close to 2 trillion barrels, according to Don Paul, Chevron's chief technology officer.
We're consuming a lot of fuel: about 3 billion gallons a day worldwide, or roughly a half-gallon for every person on the planet. By 2012, the human race will have consumed 1.5 trillion barrels. So by 2025, Bush's goal date for halting greenhouse gases, there most likely won't be any oil left anyway.
How can anyone NOT connect the dots when it comes to oil prices and the Bush administration??
Hello!! The Prez, Vice Prez and many top administration officials are oil men.
It's not a coincidence that gas prices have tripled under them.
It's more of a conflict of interest!
Why is it so hard for some people to understand that there is a major energy crisis AND oil companies are taking advantage of it? Why does it have to be one or the other? It's ridiculous to assume that oil companies (and the politicians who represent them) are going to become altruistic when the shit hits the fan. But that doesn't mean they are in control of the shit hitting the fan.
$3.85 last night and I don't see any end in sight. I drive an economical car and it still cost me $40 to fill up. The guy next to me was filling his big construction truck and it rolled well past $100 before I left.
The best thing we can do to stick it to the OPEC nations and Big Oil is to vote with our wallets. We need to dramatically cut consumption on a personal level first. Don't wait for the gov't to make a major change. For our part, my family will be vacationing close to home this summer and will be looking at every thing we do with a "is this trip really necessary" mentality. We are already planning for alternative energy solutions for our home.
The reality is oil has already peaked and we will never see the cheap prices we once enjoyed. It's time for us to join the rest of the world (Europeans have been paying $5, $6, $7/gal for years). The society we have grown accustomed to that was raised up as a result of that cheap oil is in for a major upheaval over the coming years. For the majority of us these dramatic changes WILL happen in our lifetime. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand and wait for Washington to fix it for us 'cause any action the gov't eventually takes will be way too little way too late.
Focusing on how it's OPEC's fault or Big Oil's fault that oil prices is high gives the Bush Admin too much cover.
Dems should be focusing on how the Mid-East turmoil Bush has created has pushed prices way up, and how the plummeting dollar is making the cost of oil in the U.S. much higher. A good 1/3 of oil prices today is Bush Administration policy coming home to roost. Why aren't Dems talking about this? Obama should be hammering that fact -- Iraq and Bush Admin. fiscal policy of letting the dollar drop in order to pay for Iraq are costing Americans directly in the pocket every time they fill up their tanks.
It's easy to blame those foreigners selling oil and the fat cat oil men. Don't -- focus on Republican policies.
FACT: Oil production has been FLAT (and actually declined) since 2005.
Thats a lie. If the world is at peak production there would be no need for OPEC to meet and set prices and production quotas.
Nice try you lying piece of shit republican.
Right wingnut Fiction: "ExxonMobil and all of the other Big Oil companies pay 35% taxes"
Fact: Loopholes, offshore post boxes, credits, and obscene cooking of the books ensures they pay no where even close to that....
As for Peak Oil, it is a reality, and the 'newfound' Brazilian oil & the Canadian tar sands don't fall into the equation...as it will cost obscene amounts of money just to introduce all of the infrastructure required to tap those sources fully.... Tar sands projects have started...but costs are piling up fast...
Reality - Oil was the energy source of the 20th Century, it did pave the way for the Industrial Revolution and the accumulation of wealth....at the cost of the biosphere....
Now...we have to realize that in order to ensure the future survival of the human race...Oil, Coal must be left in the last century....and its the era of renewable/sustainable energy
1) We have the mapping technology NOW to tap all of the geothermal energy sources in the continental U.S. - equal to 3,000X our annual consumption
2) Solar Thermal Plants (yes...for when its cloudy...) installed in just 19% of our vacant/non habitable desert area in Southwest U.S. can provide 90% of our annual energy needs + the entire U.S. car fleet as plug-ins
3) Ultra capacitors (plug-in batteries - one charge = 500 miles and no deadly NiMH waste) & Hydrogen will be the future of travel (air, sea, land)
We have the technology now...we just need the political will
And just think...what advances we can make, once we transition to this paradigm completely...
Annoyed Canuck @ 18:
So the fact that OPEC is going to pump another 5 MILLION barrel daily or weekly or whatever, has not come to your attention?
Come on ...
Whatever the case is, whether it be because of a shortage of supply or high demand or gouging, we should have started to get away from fossil fuel 30 years ago.
But instead, thanks to bitching and political payoffs from the auto industry and big oil we're in this mess now.
Oh, and I can't forget those of you with your monster vehicles, helping Big Oil's profit margins all these years.
Teddy Phuf @ 15:
The bigger question is why did voters vote for people who don't talk like this?
As I tell my Repulican friends, . .
"Don't forget to gas up on your way to vote!"
Big Oil does pay taxes but this minor discomfort is somewhat cushioned
by BIG OIL SUBSIDIES. Larry Kudlow beats me over the head with the taxes
they pay but conveniently fails to mention subsidies. By the way Larry are we
in a recession yet? Whats that, we might be but it will be cruel but short lived
you say? Goldilocks is looking long term but all Bush has to do is fudge the numbers
like he does now and declare the recession over before the election. That God for
free Market capitalism where you can push on that string and actually make it move
in whatever direction you want...just in time for the election and Gentleman John McCain.
Never yield to the corrupt and criminal Reslugs. Reslugs can't handle when the truth is aired out for all to see what these lowlifes have done to our country.
#83: Your math is bad.
3 billion gallons of fuel a day = 1095b gallons a year. We'll make gasoline take the full brunt of the 3bg, ignoring propane, diesel, fuel oil, natural gas, and kerosene, which are also produced during refining. Rougly 20g of gasoline can be produced per 42g barrel of oil, so, even with the deliberately ludicrously conservative numbers above:
1095/20 = 54bb crude per year needed for fuel
2000(2 trillion barrels of oil proven)/54 = 37 years. Even assuming demand for fuel doubles over the next couple decades in a linear increase, we'd have 28 year's worth.
Now, there is significantly more than 2 trillion barrels of oil underground. There are 2 trillion barrels PROVEN barrels of light crude oil underground. Less is being discovered because nobody is exploring for more oil, because WE ALREADY KNOW where a couple decade's supply is! Minimum! A board of a publicly-traded oil company would have difficulty explaining to their stockholders why they are spending money in 2008 to find oil, when they already know where a 20-year supply is.
Production has plateau'd because crude oil supplies are at a record high. There's a glut of crude on the market. Nobody's buying enough at CURRENT production. Also, the price of oil has become totally disconnected from actual market fundamentals and is being bubbled by speculators and oil companies. If actual supply and demand determined the price of oil, and not speculation on the futures market, it'd be around $65/barrel. OPEC's not in control of the price of oil anymore.
The idea of Peak Oil is aggressively pushed by Big Oil shills because it gives them a wonderful excuse to keep the price of oil floating artificially high.
We got $1.35/L here in Montreal, if it's any consolation, that's over 5 dollars a gallon.
BTW people, you should all be promoting high fuel prices, with subsidies for the transport sector to encourage the criminals in congress and the senate to push for the use of clean fuels.
Of course it hurts; you're getting screwed by an elephant.
If I own the oil at $30 per barrel and it goes to $120 per barrel, you think I woud have larger profits? The states and feds will make far more money for doing nothing and the congress is the problem not allowing oil drilling in the USA.
This congressman is obviously up for election.
Gasoline was $219 per gallon when the dems took offfice 1 1/2 years ago and now it is up heading for $4 per gallon. Dems must take responsibility for the policy they set. Congress makes the policy that controls behaviors.
DeFazio is my congressman and I couldn't be more proud!!! He is the best Congressman a district could have... *heart flutters*
Uh, no he isn't. I voted for him in 2006, so he's got a couple more years. Peter DeFazio has been our congressman since I was a little kid, and in the last election he demolished the comptetition 70%-30% (Or close)
HW @ 100:
Congressman DeFazio! My representative! Now you know why I don't worry too much about the representation I have in the House. Thanks for putting that up C&L. I just sent him a thank you note.
He didn't run for Senator this year (darn!), saying that raising that much money would be too time consuming, and he got a subcomittee chair when the Democratic Party regained control. Like the principle, but he would have smashed Gordon Smith in an election.
I have a new HERO! Go DeFazer'O, zap those villans!
A salute to a Congressman with balls. DeFazio is a saint.
I wonder how much media coverage his speech is going to get.....
This whole repug party is one big crime family. "grand old oil party".
We're proud of you Congressman DeFazio. Thank you!!!!
chuck @ 40:
You are [Deleted-Sitemonitor], and part of the problem. I am NOT friendly to the oil companies, however, I am also not friendly to [Deleted-Sitemonitor] like you, who are the root cause of the problem. You call my facts bullshit? Fine [Deleted-Sitemonitor], here's the data, WITH LINKS TO SOURCES:
FACT: Oil production has been FLAT (and actually declined) since 2005. (Source: EIA chart on production)
FACT: Oil demand is UP since 2005. (Source: EIA data)
FACT: Mexico’s biggest field, Cantarell, is now in 14% depletion rate. (Source: wikipedia's article on the Cantarell field)
FACT: The North Sea is also in double digit depletion rate. (Source: Wikipedia's entry on the North Sea Oil field)
FACT: The USA peak in 1970 and is producing a fraction of what it did then. (The Hirsch Report from the DOE)
FACT: The oil companies only control 17% of the market. (Source: The DOE Hirsch Report)
FACT: National governments control 83% of the oil market. (Again. the Hirsch Report)
FACT: Kuwait’s largest field, Bhurgan, peaked in November 2005. (reprinted from Bloomberg News Service)
FACT: North American Natural gas peaked several years ago. (Source: Exxon, confirmed by EIA)
FACT: Nothing has the combination of energy density and transportability of oil. (No links: it's just a physical fact.)
FACT: Americans refuse to give up the Happy Motoring Society. (Images of Ford F650 truck)
So, NO chuck: [Deleted-Sitemonitor], and GET WITH THE PROGRAM. Geothermalise your home NOW. Move closer to work, NOW. Ride your bike to get food and supplies. NOW. Make PLANS as to how the hell you're gonna survive the coming onslaught, because if you don't plans will be made for you.
I look at these. Intentional Rising of Oil Price. Intentional Pushing of Biofuels. Food Pricing Rising to starvation levels.
This is a PLAN. The desperation and strife this will cause will amount to so many deaths that the "Conspiratorial Georgia Guidestones" may be prophetic. Perhaps you should ask who benefits from this type of genocide?
HW @ 100:
Oh, I'm sure it's the Dem's that have control, when 500 million cromes from the Oil Companies to buy off Senators... Sure...
Sure.
I lived in Oregon for 18 years and DeFazio is to the right of most of the left wing nuts in this liberal state amd the "Republicians" are RINOS. (Republicians in name only). The west coast if loaded with Left wing haters and "Global Warming" advocates that are responsible for the up coming increases in food prices and the high price of oil. If you can't drill for oil you are at the mercy of the rest of the world. Get used to it. Washington state has already past laws to cost tax payers 21 Billion dollars per year in new energy taxes and a limit on how many miles you can drive each year. Sound like communism to me.
HW @ 109:
If you think a bunch of politicians and lefties in OR or WA determine what people pay for oil, grain, rice and other scarce commodities in this world, you are deluded.
Your conspiracy theories are not just absurd, they are meaningless. Two billion people in India and China, the vast majority of whom ago were poor subsistence farmers less than a generation ago, are now entering the middle class. Thirty million people every year in China alone - roughly the population of California or Canada - are leaving the land to move to cities. The Chinese are literally building several huge new cities all over the country, every year. This is the biggest, fastest move to urbanisation and industrialization in human history. It's fact, not fantasy.
Oil, steel, food crops, minerals, water, cement, you name it, are all in shortage as a result. Prices are up for all commodities, all over the world. Some of these increases may stop as new mines and crop lands are brought into production. Oil production is a different matter. The cheap oil is running out. The expensive stuff - the heavy oil, shale gas and liquids, deep gas, deep ocean reserves - is what's left to find. It's expensive as hell to develop, a lot of it is very dirty, and the fields generally aren't as big. Oilsands? Forget it. The big story in Western Canada - which I bet is nowhere to be found in the US media - is that there isn't enough water in Alberta to cook the bitumen out of the sand. A major water shortage looms.
This is indeed a depressing thread. American Liberals seem to be as deluded as Conservatives, only in mirror image.
Conspiracy theories about Big Oil companies are all very comforting to the ignorant, but they have nothing to do with the fact the world is fast running out of cheap oil.
The solution? Prices have to go up, so new energy sources can be developed. If you hate the oil economy and want to preserve the environment, higher oil prices are good news.
Tata Motors (India) is opening a plant in Australia this year to produce its "Air Car", which will go approximately (estimates vary) 120 miles @ speeds up to 70 mph on a tank of compressed air (less than $3 US). The car will sell for $8,000. So far there hasn't been much coverage in the US, but you can check it out at: http://autobloggreen.com/tag/air+car/
Don't know whether or not it will catch on, but the idea of cutting the oil gods off at the pockets has definite appeal.
Saudi Arabia wasn't even a country before WW2 The Bristish set up Opec as a front Operation. I Believe the 10 New Kings in the Bible are really 10 Oil men or 5 Oil men and 5 Banksters. The entire world has been duked.
News flash: OPEC controls the prices and keeps them high so they rake in the money!
Its a cartel. That's what it's for!
The mind boggling thing is that we haven't tried to get off oil.
Jeremy @ 102:
Both you guys need to go back and retake high school American Government: in the U.S., every congressman is up for re-election in even numbered years. DeFazio is up this year, it's just that he's running unopposed.
Oh, and HW, you probably blame the democrats for you eating all those paint chips when you were a kid.
3.89 regular gas today on Long Island NY---should reach 4 dollars before memorial Day!!! Going up 20 -30 cents a week has nothing to do with demand and everything to do with Wall Street!! AND if oil companies were only passing on their higher costs, record profits (40 Billion!!) wou;dn't occur!!
Well, I hope the rest of the Dems take notice, we a famished for anyone like DeFazio to stand up to these fascist assholes. However, why no mention of the petro dollars financing the terrorists?
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