Posted on 05/16/2006 10:05:35 AM PDT by thackney
A Bush administration energy official said Monday that gasoline prices could remain high for years, and there is not much more the government can do about it.
Americans are caught between soaring oil demand in Asia and at home on one hand, and a lack of investment on the supply side, according to Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell.
There are going to be new supplies coming online, but the timeline for those new supplies is going to be five, 10, 15 years ahead, so were going to be in this position for a long time, Sell said while visiting federal labs on the West Coast and promoting administration plans for recycling nuclear fuel.
U.S. motorists might be in better shape, Sell suggested, if Congress had approved drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off the Continental Shelf.
Hes right about us being stuck here for a long time, said Severin Borenstein, a professor in Berkeleys Haas School of Business and director of the University of California Energy Institute. But the supply-side solutions for oil — drilling more — will never do anything. Its a drop in the bucket. If they had five years ago drilled in the ANWR, gasoline prices would not be noticeably lower today.
The same is true for raising vehicle fuel economy standards, because it takes so long for car and truck makers to retool and for the more efficient cars to supplant gas guzzlers, Borenstein said.
What federal energy officials can and are doing is to push new fuel supplies. Buoyed by federal subsidies and a proposed doubling of federal research funds, corn-based ethanol has grown faster than expectations to 4 percent of U.S. transportation fuels. Higher oil prices now favor the economics of turning natural gas and coal into cleaner-burning synthetic diesel.
Americans will remain in the sway of international oil markets in ways rarely felt over the last 30 years. For now, easing the pain at the pump means you can drive smarter, you can drive less and you can get the car tuned up, things like that, Sell said.
For the next few years, the greatest and cheapest means for easing gasoline prices lie in energy efficiency and conservation, Sell said.
Borenstein has another, quicker solution that Washington cant abide.
There is something they could do in the short term and they're not willing to do it and neither are the Democrats, and that is raise the gas taxes, he said.
In the 2000 presidential debate, well before gasoline topped $3 a gallon, George W. Bush attacked Sen. John Kerry for supporting a 50-cent per gallon gas tax.
Kerry ran away from it as fast as he could, Borenstein said.
I know! LET'S OUTLAW CHINA!
So the governments answer is live with it, there is nothing they can do! Right.
.....build the first refinery in 30 years. Drill ANWAR, drill off our coasts. There's plenty to be done if we stop shaking in our collective boots at the tree huggers & far left.
Howabout buying less junk from China?
Yes, speculation of interruption of supply from unstable places like Venezuela and Iran. Increased oil production from the US would help stabilize the market.
http://journeytoforever.org/
I think we should take it to the man.
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
This is the bio fuel section for the lazy people.
I'm sticking it to the oil companies. I purchased my first bike in 20+ years and will be riding it back and forth to work 5 miles each way. Watch for me in my high heels and dress on the way in. You'll be in for quite a sight :)!
Does America need to drive those huge pickemup trucks and SUVs in order to have one person commute to work from the exurbs? We could cut our fuel consumption significantly by driving more appropriate vehicles, and no I don't mean tiny econoboxes.
Nice and in Wisconsin. Love the weather rides in. Gives new meaning colder than a w_____ t__
I could not support this type of govenment manipulation of the market. Let it stand on its own economics. I support tax incentives for domestic production of fuel. I do not support politicians selecting which fuel we should use.
2) Reduce the regulation and overhead required to build and operate refineries
Yes a little consistance without changing rules would go a long ways.
3) Congress should pass a single nationwide standard for gasoline formulation that eliminates specialty blends
Ditto
4) Allow the import of ethanol for gasoline reformulation without input duties.
5) allow the import of gasoline that meets the national standard without additional import duties.
Replacing one foriegn fuel with another is not the solution to our problems.
Much of the gas mileage efficiency gains over the past 2 decades have been due to lighter cars, not advancement in power production.
I don't believe most of the efficiency gains from 1986 are from weight reduction.
Ethanol and Biodiesel have come to the USA not from the Ocean but from Indiana. Man o man the farmers are not screaming any more.
I say the USA gov subsitites to farmers should be turned off and given a discount credit by creating ethanol and biodiesel commodities.
I say no to the IRS regulation that force farmers or home owners that want to sell fuel to thier neighbor . I say no to the gov regulations on creating ethonal. If you want a cup for yourself and 10 gallons in the tank I say lets go for it. I say taxing fuel is worse than the boston tea party. If they want us to pay for roads it should be my local municipality that get the fuel tax not some city in New york.
I hope the grip the gov has placed on us
Perhaps we should also dictate how far from work they are allowed to live. And how big of home people can own should also be legislated. I think we should only allow motor sports and power boating on an as needed basis. Travel should be limited to only prior approved basis.
Or maybe we could try being Americans.
There'd be an extra 1,000,000 bbls/day of crude flowing to the US, if ClinTOON had not veteoed the ANWR drilling plan 10 years ago.......!
Yep, remember that anytime anyone whines how it will take 10 years to bring it to market. I still plan on needing fuel for my truck in ten years.
I just don't want to hear my co-workers complain about the price of gas. They live in $250,000 homes, drive $40,000 full-sized pickup trucks, and commute so far that the gas costs them over $400 a month. They could live closer to work and a house would cost the same. They don't need to commute in a full-size pickup truck. Even if they parked the truck and leased a Toyota Corolla that got 41 mpg, they'd come out ahead financially. All they want to do is whine and complain and moan about the price of gas. Some of them blame the "evil oil companies" for making profits (how dare they!). My co-workers don't bother to look in the mirror and realize that THEIR DEMAND based on WHAT THEY DO is causing prices to go up. Yes, we could drill more and we could also reduce the number of boutique blends that our aging refineries produce, but it's SUPPLY and DEMAND that is driving prices. Endlessly complaining about it like a bunch of crybabies isn't the American Way. Having ingenuity and coming up with a better solution and waking up to the world of supply and demand and capitalist economics and dealing with it is the American way.
You understand it completely.
Try laughing at them.
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