Posted on 05/25/2008 7:54:11 AM PDT by tobyhill
As Oklahomans travel this Memorial Day weekend, one thing is certain — they will feel the pressure of skyrocketing gas prices. Prices at the pump have never been higher nationwide, and most Americans will pay nearly $4 for a gallon of gasoline this weekend. Four dollars. At a time when American families are already feeling the strain of rising food and consumer prices, $4 a gallon is certainly hard to swallow.
As many Washington politicians return home to face understandably disgruntled constituents this weekend, no doubt there will be plenty of finger pointing. But Oklahomans and Americans want and deserve solutions, not excuses.
Recently, I joined with several Republican colleagues to introduce legislation aimed at addressing these shortcomings, seeking to decrease the price of energy by exploring and developing offshore and Alaskan resources. This bill also includes legislation I authored that would improve the permitting process for construction and expansion of domestic refining capacity. It also invests in research for environmentally friendly energy sources that Oklahoma leads the nation in developing, like cellulosic biofuels. This would help put an end to outsourcing of American jobs, as well as provide much-needed economic relief to Americans suffering from today's energy prices.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsok.com ...
1) They can demagogue the issue
2) In states where the gas tax is a percentage of the price, they get more revenue for their beloved government
3) It gives them an excuse to interfere in the economy, and intrude into peoples lives
Higher gas prices are the result of growth in the world economy - people in other countries are raising their standard of living. Of course, the progressives don't look at that as progress, they see it as the exhaustive depletion of resources at the hands of evil, greedy capitalists out to exploit anything they can. But only economic growth can raise the world up; the alternative (the progressive alternative) is to take from the haves, give it to the have nots, and spread it more evenly so that we are all miserable socialists, taxed until death, and dependent on them for everything. We must demand from our leaders the ability to use the natural resources at our disposal in order to insure that growth, and world prosperity can continue. The future may hold new sources of energy - but for now, it's oil and natural gas we have to depend on.
I swallowed some gasoline once when starting a siphon (from a 50 gal barrel to a marine pile driving crane).
Tasted bad and gave me gas (burps). Turns out it's hard to swallow at any price.
Is Inhofe the only one with any cents in DC?
The idiot libs may like it for the short term but when people realize that the Global Warming Cult was just out to steal their hard earned cash then there will be a backlash against them. It’s not the first time the wackos fooled a majority of people for the short term and it won’t be the last.
Impossible. High IQ and Educated cannot be used in the same breath as Liberal. It impossible to be educated and Liberal. You can only be Liberal and politically indoctrinate. Educated and Liberal are contradictory states
We did it with the immigration bill, why not demand a sensible and effective energy bill?.........NOW
Thunderdome!
Yes, let do this. However also let us accept also that we are going to be an Oil based economy for the rest of our lives even if we invent an Alternative tomorrow. That just the plain Economic facts of life. Changing Energy sources is an evolutionary, not revolutionary change. This is the thing the Greens simply cannot grasp. EVEN if we magically invent some Alternative tomorrow, the world is going to be a predominately Oil based economy for at least the next 30-50 years.
Let say we do this. Let say despite the trillions of dollars and decades spent all ready searching for this Alternative we invent this alternative energy source this very second. Let us call it Goil.
Ok, so you got your Goil. NOW, you need to develop the technology that can use goil to heat homes, run manufacturing plants, power engines etc. That will take years and years.
Now you need to market the technology for years until you reach enough mass to lower production cost to something the average person can afford.
At the same time you need to develop and build all the infasturcture to support this new Energy source and use up the existing Oil based infrastructure.
We did not become an Oil based economy over night, we will not stop being an oil based economy over night. If the Greens want to slay the Oil monster, the solution is to pump it all out and burn it up as fast as possible. Oil is an incredibly efficient cost effective energy source. Until it is scares enough, no Alternative is going to provide as much chemical bang per buck as Oil. As long as Oil is available, it going to be the energy source of choice.
This is the mistake the Greens are making. They think if they just stamp their feet and scream louder Oil is magically going to go away. It will not. Gas costs about $9.00 a gallon in the EU and their roads are jammed. Higher prices in themselves do significantly reduce fuel use.
Let’s hope you are right, and the sooner, the better.
[URL]http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1975goc..rept......[/URL]
A method is described for producing synthetic benzene and its derivatives for use as major gasoline extenders. A feedstock material containing carbon (limestone has been used) is mixed with lithium metal in a stainless steel vessel, evacuated, and heated to 2,000 F. The molten metal attacks the carbon in the feedstock to form carbides, with a conversion efficiency of 90%. The material is then allowed to cool and water is added to form acetylene gas, which is catalyzed to form benzene with a conversion efficiency of almost 100%. The benzene is consistently pure; any sulfur or ash is left behind, regardless of the sulfur content of the feedstock material. Other feedstock materials considered are charcoal, coke, high sulfur coal and various types of organic wastes. The estimated cost of the product, using low grade coke or coal as the feedstock material, is $15-$20 per barrel.
it is every democrats fault why we are paying so much for gas. they refuse to do domestic drilling to relief the pocket books of hard working taxpaying Americans.
Okay.
Petroleum, coal, shale, nuke.
Finding a new source of energy is not like inventing a lightbulb. It has to come from somewhere. The best we can hope for is to overcome some of the problems in making and storing energy in ways we already know. You have to open up drilling while you work on these problems. And you don’t need any incentives for this research. The payoff for someone to come up with a cheap, efficient solar cell or a lightweight battery that could hold lots of electricity would be huge.
i remember congress woman barbara boxer flying down to los angeles and then motoring out to santa barbara in an suv
to announce her candidacy for the u.s. senate,
and to say there would be no more off-shore oil drilling.
i dropped her a note telling her that she’d wasted a lot of oil coming down here to socal.
I agree, but you need to up the ante...such a discovery would be worth untold billions.
The way to lower prices is for the PEOPLE to use less. The law of supply and demand.
Did you see the energy power of those pig farms in Oklahoma yesterday?
You make a great point.
My “brilliant” Dem congressman Ron Kind has a solution: sue the oil companies. With tools like Kind we can be assured that finding real solutions will never happen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.