How Would YOU Solve the Energy crisis?

FreeRepublic ^ | 4/13/08 | papasmurf

[papasmurf]

I don't think any reasonable person would dispute that we are in an energy crisis. We are, in fact, being held political hostage by those that control the world's oil supply. Add to that my belief that the market has been manipulated by those that wish us harm. (think Russia, Venezuela, Iran, and certain camel riding folks with big bank accounts, a laptop and a satellite connection, here)

The market has responded to the political machinations of the suppliers of oil and the manipulators in a very expected way, IMO.

We are constantly being bombarded with so called "solutions" by everyone from the Speaker of the House, to liberal boot heel licking media types and, even, Joe Blogger. Our President has been, sadly, in the background telling us all will be okay and we should use more "alternative" fuels. In the meantime, Corn, Rice, and other BioFuel/Agrofuel making materials have skyrocketed in price, keeping pace with rise in gas prices, all along.

I am very interested in reading what FReepers, men and women whose opinions, experience, and education, I highly respect, have to say and what their opinions to solutions are.

[discostu]

I didn’t say things are peachy, I said we’re not in a crisis. I lived through the 70s gas crunches, this is nothing compared to those. This is an overcorrection in the prices, oil was way too cheap for a long time, it had to come up eventually. Eventually it’ll crawl back down though probably no where near where it was before. We’ve seen these cycles before, it’s not that big a mystery.

[palmer]

My monthly gasoline bill is over $400 per month. Tell me that ain’t a crisis.

The trucks we use are very productive compare to anything equivalent. My bus pass is $220 / month ($330 without the metrocheck subsidy), I drive at least once a week so pay for the bus I'm not using and 5 gallons of gas. But all that is cheap compared to the work time gained, better job, mobility, and flexibility. The cars and trucks just happen to be very heavy and energy inefficient while also being very productive tools.

There will be a crisis for many until people adapt. That said, people who run small businesses dependent on energy are going to have to diversify.

[mamelukesabre]

SHRINK GOVERNMENT.
CUT SPENDING.
CUT TAXES.
DEPORT ILLEGALS.
END SUBSIDIES.

It's that simple.

[mamelukesabre]

How does a small business “diversify”?

[Dead Corpse]

I said we’re not in a crisis.

If we don't get govt to back off soon, it's going to be. How about getting on board instead of ragging on folks trying to fix things?

[palmer]

One friend is doing storage along with grading and gravel. Another is starting a wholesale nursery. It’s expensive and time consuming, but they have no choice.

[discostu]

I’m not ragging on anybody, I’m the ragged upon. I already said government needs to step out, earlier on this thread long before miss “anybody that doesn’t agree with me is clueless” went all PMS bothered to show up, not to mention decades ago out in the real world.

[papasmurf]

There will be a crisis for many until people adapt. That said, people who run small businesses dependent on energy are going to have to diversify.

Tell that to Aloha, ATA and Skybus. Or tell it to the 33 Motor Carriers with 50 or more trucks that have closed, or the approx. 20,000 independents that have closed.

A crisis is not a catastrophe. It doesn't mean the sky will fall. It's a stressful period. It's a warning that a catastrophe may occur if actions aren't taken to prevent it.

This is a crisis.

[palmer]

The economy dictates the prices and the cheap oil is gone. It is not being created in the earth or even discovered at anything close to the rate we are consuming. When the horse and carriage went away it was a crisis for some, but opportunity for many more. Expensive energy may not seem like an opportunity at the moment, but it is.

[upsdriver]

I disagree that we have an energy crisis. We have all the energy we need at this time. Deregulation of the oil business would be a huge step in the right direction. Get rid of all these different formulations of gas.

Alternative fuels are fine, but NO subsidies. Let them survive or die in the market.

We have huge reserves of coal, crude oil and natural gas in this country. I suggest we go after them. Squash any sniveling environmentalist pantywaist who gets in the way.

[editor-surveyor]

"I don't think any reasonable person would dispute that we are in an energy crisis."

I don't know how an intelligent person can assert that there is any energy crisis.

There is all the oil we can use readily available

There is pleanty of coal.

What do you want?

Are you talking about the currency crisis that is artificially driving up the price of Oil?

Or the shortage of refining capacity that is driving up the price of motor fuels?

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

I already said government needs to step out, earlier on this thread long before miss “anybody that doesn’t agree with me is clueless” went all PMS bothered to show up, not to mention decades ago out in the real world.

Thank you for making my point about being clueless. I'm a guy, Einstein, and I've been out in the real world just as long as you have. That's why my blinders are off. Can't say the same for you.

[editor-surveyor]

" My monthly gasoline bill is over $400 per month. Tell me that ain’t a crisis."

It's a crisis for you for sure, but it isn't an energy crisis. Its due to a number of bad economic policies and decisions, such as failing to drill for domestic oil in a timely manner, and that is the fault of Congress getting in the way.

Energy is abundant, and very reliable.

[cogitator]

A fifteen year energy independence moonshot that includes nuclear, coal, biodiesel, and hydrogen research. New nuclear and coal plants go up as fast as we can build them. No red tape. More grants for alternative energy research.

I agree, but 20-25 years is even more realistic.

The late Arthur C. Clarke was asked not very long ago what he thought about the future now that he was in it (I would guess this was relevant to "2001: A Space Odyssey", which he novelized. He gave a number of interesting answers (one of which was that nobody ever suspected computers could be so SMALL!), but one of his most telling was that very few (if any?) of the Golden Age sci-fi writers worried about how much it actually cost -- energy-wise, commodity-wise, and money-wise -- to get into space, let alone stay there.

Regarding energy, we are now on the cusp of being in the future. Sure, there's still plenty of oil and coal in the ground, but getting it out and turning it into something that can be readily used is becoming a bottleneck as demand rises. Likewise for shipping. Likewise for transmission lines.

That's why I think the "moonshot" analogy is apt. We need to drive down demand and increase supply at the same time. Papasmurf gets it right that the cost of energy is hitting us everywhere, which combined with a credit crunch is seriously hurting our personal and national purchasing power. To turn that around, it would require investment in the strongest thing the U.S. has going for it; it's unparalleled R&D capabilities.

I think I heard Rush's stand-in Friday talking about how "bad" it was that there was legislation with the goal of phasing out incandescent lightbulbs. Poor people shouldn't be forced to buy them, because they cost so much more than incandescents! (Of course, using them saves money over the long-term; it's the upfront cost that hurts). The thing is, power companies want people to get CFLs because they are having trouble meeting peak demand loads, and bringing on the peak demand generators costs them money, especially as commodity prices go up! So a lot of the push for the CFLs is not from the Algorians; it's coming from the energy sector that recognizes the increasing economic necessity to lower demand (a blackout is not economically useful).

There are ways to increase supply, but they aren't quick (takes awhile to build a nuke plant; even takes awhile to bring a new field like the Bakken online. And what we REALLY need is a new source of cheap, abundant energy, preferably one that's "clean". Hydrogen? Advanced solar? Nuclear fusion? I don't know. But I suspect that as the Third World's largest countries get increasingly sophisticated, the demand for energy will only get worse, increasing the need for cheap, abundant supply.

[dan1123]

If you look, other commodities have done the same.

Because the Fed is holding interest rates below real inflation. Once the Fed makes interest rates match or exceed real inflation, investors will move back to cash and stocks from commodities. If the Fed overshoots (which probably will happen), then investors will push for cash investments more exclusively, causing problems in stock, real estate, and commodities markets.

[SouthTexas]

That wasn't really the question, but the more government meddles, the worse it will be.

We need to drill our own oil and let the market set the interest rates.

[SunkenCiv]

Saudi Oil Minister Blasts Biofuels
[no bias whatsoever]
Posted by Cindy Zimmerman
April 14th, 2008
http://domesticfuel.com/2008/04/14/saudi-oil-minister-blasts-biofuels/

Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear
Vanity Fair | May, 2008
Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 12:51:30 PM by dickmc
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2001372/posts

Global Warming Researchers Reverse Stance on Storm Intensity
Daily Tech | April 13, 2008 | Michael Asher (Blog)
Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 06:44:40 PM by Aristotelian
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2001548/posts

[BraveMan]

Invade Venezuela. Build a pipeline.

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2000981/posts?page=77#77

[Berosus]

Here in Kentucky, we have a simple solution to any energy shortage: dig more coal.