Policy Initiatives for Rising Gas Costs

[Balta1701]

As Balta mentioned, notice these checks are always around an election. It's a Chinese and Middle Eastern funded bribe.

Fixed that for you.

[Texsox]

Not to leave the discussion without throwing an idea out. If we want to make this investment, how about funding items that will allow individuals to not use fossil fuels. Much like the tobacco industry had to fund anti-smoking campaigns, require the oil companies to put in programs that loosen dependence on fossil fuels. Allow them to escape any wind fall profits tax by funding university research on alternative fuels. And give them the rights to the research results royalty free so they can continue in business.

[Balta1701]

Not to leave the discussion without throwing an idea out. If we want to make this investment, how about funding items that will allow individuals to not use fossil fuels. Much like the tobacco industry had to fund anti-smoking campaigns, require the oil companies to put in programs that loosen dependence on fossil fuels. Allow them to escape any wind fall profits tax by funding university research on alternative fuels. And give them the rights to the research results royalty free so they can continue in business.

I would be totally thrilled with that and I'm pretty sure it's been proposed more than a few times. It's not in Senator Obama's plan online. I think that's a vastly better use of the "windfall tax" than sending out more money to people. R&D spending by energy companies has been basically flat over the last decade despite their soaring profits, and I think we might all be able to agree that fact needs to change.

[bmags]

(although, if enough bridges collapse, that is one way of cutting oil consumption).

 

[lostfan]

I would be totally thrilled with that and I'm pretty sure it's been proposed more than a few times. It's not in Senator Obama's plan online. I think that's a vastly better use of the "windfall tax" than sending out more money to people. R&D spending by energy companies has been basically flat over the last decade despite their soaring profits, and I think we might all be able to agree that fact needs to change.

BP seems like it's pretty big on alternative energy though. Which makes me (as a stockholder to boot) feel better.

[bmags]

BP seems like it's pretty big on alternative energy though. Which makes me (as a stockholder to boot) feel better.

 

did you feel great about them last summer?

[lostfan]

did you feel great about them last summer?

I had just gotten stocks last summer.

[southsider2k5]

The irony is everyone is throwing around all of these ideas, but the best thing for alternative energies is high oil prices. I really believe that is why the Dems are fighting things that would bring down oil prices in the short-term so hard. Some of their highest leaders are knee deep in the start ups of those types of companies.

[lostfan]

The irony is everyone is throwing around all of these ideas, but the best thing for alternative energies is high oil prices. I really believe that is why the Dems are fighting things that would bring down oil prices in the short-term so hard. Some of their highest leaders are knee deep in the start ups of those types of companies.

Good luck trying to explain something like that to America. As a collective body, they don't want to hear it.

[kapkomet]

The irony is everyone is throwing around all of these ideas, but the best thing for alternative energies is high oil prices. I really believe that is why the Dems are fighting things that would bring down oil prices in the short-term so hard. Some of their highest leaders are knee deep in the start ups of those types of companies.

DING!

 

Also, what is your comment about the following quote?

 

Some people say that buying oil futures cannot affect prices because someone else is always selling. But then if that were true, no price would ever change. Concentrated buying has to affect the market price for oil.

 

I took this fron Ben Stien's column on yahoo this week.

[BigSqwert]

Here's a fun read:

 

GOP won’t let go of its new tire-gauge toy

 

Atrios asked this morning, “Does anyone understand why Obama suggesting that people keep their tires properly inflated is some sort of hilarious gaffe?”

 

I’ve been trying to figure out the same thing for days. As the Obama campaign kicks off “energy week” with a new contrast ad and a policy speech in Michigan, Time’s Mark Halperin reports, “McCain supporters in Michigan will distribute tire gauges at Obama’s energy speech in Lansing. The RNC will also deliver gauges reading ‘Obama’s energy plan’ to Washington newsrooms.”

 

As of this morning, it looks like far-right blogs have received their copies of the Republican script, too. RedState.org’s Erick Erickson is on message: “Inflating your tires and getting a regular tune-up sounds more like Obama’s plan for ego maintenance than it does for helping American families.” Ed Morrissey added, “…Obama refers to ‘big oil’ and the need to reduce our use of oil by 35% over the next twenty years. How do we get there? Keep inflating those tires, folks.”

 

We are, quite obviously, in the midst of a very aggressive roll-out here. John McCain criticized the notion of well-inflated tires on Friday, and Newt Gingrich described Obama’s remarks as “loony toons” during a Fox News interview. Yesterday morning on ABC, McCain said, “It seems to me the only thing [Obama] wants us to do is inflate tires” to improve gas mileage.

 

And over the weekend, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, still auditioning for the role of VP, took to using a tire gauge as a prop.

 

Pawlenty a few minute

s

later pulled a prop out of hi

s

poc

k

et.

 

“

Barac

k

Obama

s

tood up at a

s

peech recently and

s

aid that one of the thing

s

that i

s

really important from energy policy from hi

s

s

tandpoint i

s

to chec

k

the pre

s

s

ure in our tire

s

,

s

o here

’

s

a tire gauge and you can go out in the par

k

ing lot here and chec

k

your tire

s

. Now, that

’

s

an intere

s

ting thing

—

we want you to have good pre

s

s

ure in your tire

s

, you

k

now, it will very mildly add to your fuel efficiency

—

but chec

k

ing the air pre

s

s

ure in your tire

s

i

s

not an energy policy for the United

S

tate

s

of America,

”

Pawlenty

s

aid.

 

ABC News’ The Note added that tire gauges may get the Republican Party’s message “back on the road.”

 

There’s something deeply wrong with these people.

 

Let’s review. The other day, Barack Obama mentioned to voters in Missouri that there are things individuals can do to help conserve energy, including bringing their cars in for regular tune ups, and keeping their tires properly inflated. It seemed like a rather unremarkable thing to say.

 

But at this point, Republicans can’t seem to stop commenting on just how remarkable they think this is.

 

To reiterate a point from yesterday, someone sent me a transcript yesterday of Obama’s specific remarks in Missouri, and he apparently said the amount of energy to be saved by routine auto maintenance is comparable to the savings we’d get from the GOP’s coastal drilling policy. I have no idea if that’s true — it may very well not be — and I’ll be happy to let energy policy experts weigh in on whether Obama exaggerated the significance of scheduled car care. If he did, Obama should obviously drop this line from his speeches.

 

But oddly enough, that’s not what McCain and his surrogates are complaining about. They’re insisting, over and over again, that tire pressure is the entire Obama energy policy. Who, exactly, is supposed to believe such transparent nonsense?

 

Consider a counter-example. McCain was talking about skin cancer the other day.

 

McCain emphasized that skin cancer is preventable, and implored Americans to wear sunscreen, especially over the summer. What’s wrong with this advice? Not a thing. It’s a smart, sensible thing to say.

 

But imagine if Obama and his surrogates said the entirety of McCain’s healthcare policy is sunscreen application. McCain doesn’t really care about cancer, they could argue, he just wants everyone to run out at get some SPF 30. Those vying to be Obama’s running mate started holding up bottles of Coppertone during their speeches, saying things like, “We want you to wear sunscreen, you know, it will very mildly improve your chances of not getting sick. But wearing sunscreen is not a healthcare policy for the United States of America.”

 

This, of course, would be insane. And yet, that’s pretty much what’s become of Republican campaign rhetoric of late.

 

What’s more, the estimable Bill Scher added some details that bolster Obama’s point.

Obama wa

s

ob

s

erving that coa

s

tal drilling would

s

ave u

s

s

o little oil and

s

o little money even twenty year

s

from now, that you can actually

s

ave more money immediately by doing

“

s

imple thing

s

”

s

uch a

s

k

eeping your tire

s

properly inflated.

 

Where did he get that crazy idea? From George Bu

s

h

’

s

Energy Department and Environmental Protection Agency

…

. Their joint

s

ite fueleconomy.gov i

s

loaded with fuel-

s

aving, money-

s

aving tip

s

.

K

eep your tire

s

properly inflated, for example, and you can

s

ave up to 12 cent

s

a gallon.

 

Compare that immediate

s

aving

s

from that

s

ingle tip, with what coa

s

tal and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling combined would get you two decade

s

from now: 6 cent

s

a gallon.

 

And that

’

s

being generou

s

, becau

s

e Bu

s

h

’

s

Energy Department

s

ay

s

we can

’

t expect any impact on price

s

from coa

s

tal drilling until the year 2030.

 

In their

k

nee-jer

k

moc

k

ery, con

s

ervative

s

are flying clo

s

er to the truth then they intend to.

 

Update: A friend reminds me that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ® also recently “appealed to those with the real power to make change — average citizens — to drive slower, keep engines tuned and tires properly inflated, to buy hybrids and lower overall consumption.”

 

Second Update: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist also believes keeping tires inflated is important.

 

Third Update: Not too long ago, NASCAR told fans, “With escalating fuel prices, the time is now for drivers to focus on simple things like proper tire pressure to maximize tire performance and increase fuel economy.”

 

LINK

[southsider2k5]

DING!

 

Also, what is your comment about the following quote?

 

 

 

I took this fron Ben Stien's column on yahoo this week.

 

It has to do with taking delivery. If people take delivery, that is true demand.

[southsider2k5]

Here's a fun read:

 

 

 

LINK

 

If McCain had said it, they would be treating it like some old man gaffe. Its not the tire pressure comment per se, its the line AFTER that which makes it incredibly wrong. Obama wasn't just saying that inflating your tires helps, he actually said that if everyone did it, it would be the same as all of the off-shore drilling would be.

 

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/...amas-tire-gaffe

 

"There are things you can do individually, though, to save energy," Obama said. "Making sure your tires are properly inflated - simple thing. But we could save all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling - if everybody was just inflating their tires? And getting regular tune-ups? You'd actually save just as much!"

 

As I mentioned in my July 31 blog, Power Line's John Hinderaker demonstrated how Obama's claims are not just silly-sounding, they are mathematically impossible.:

 

Americans drive approximately 2,880 billion miles per year. If we average 24 mpg, we use around 120 billion gallons of gasoline in our vehicles. If, through perfect tire inflation, we improved our collective fuel efficiency by 1.5%, that would be 1.8 billion gallons. A barrel of oil produces around 20 gallons of gasoline, so the total savings available through tire inflation is approximately 90,000,000 barrels of oil annually.

 

How does this stack up against "all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling?"

 

ANWR: 10 billion barrels

Outer Continental Shelf: 18 billion barrels (estimated; the actual total is undoubtedly much higher, since exploration has been banned)

Oil shale: 1 trillion barrels

 

So, on the above assumptions, it would take only 11,308 years of proper tire inflation to equal "all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling."

 

[BigSqwert]

If McCain had said it, they would be treating it like some old man gaffe. Its not the tire pressure comment per se, its the line AFTER that which makes it incredibly wrong. Obama wasn't just saying that inflating your tires helps, he actually said that if everyone did it, it would be the same as all of the off-shore drilling would be.

It's the reaction by the GOP that I find silly. Sure they can dispute his assumptions/calculations regarding ANWR but they are making it out as if the only proposal for energy he has is proper tire pressure. That is just ludicrous as he laid out a very comprehensive energy plan this week (side note: I don't fully agree with his plan).

[southsider2k5]

It's the reaction by the GOP that I find silly. Sure they can dispute his assumptions/calculations regarding ANWR but they are making it out as if the only proposal for energy he has is proper tire pressure. That is just ludicrous as he laid out a very comprehensive energy plan this week (side note: I don't fully agree with his plan).

 

Kinda like 100 years of war being the McCain Iraq plan?

 

I will agree that the reaction has been ridiculous, but the statement was pretty full of hot air as well.

[BigSqwert]

Kinda like 100 years of war being the McCain Iraq plan?

 

I will agree that the reaction has been ridiculous, but the statement was pretty full of hot air as well.

Good point. Both sides seize on statements like this but it seems like in recent years the GOP take it to an extreme, at least from my point of view. In this case it's everyone holding up tire gauges and it was everyone at the '04 convention holding up actual flip flops. Way over the top especially since the Dem convention back then was so much more positive in its message. I envision a similar direction this year with a negative/attack type GOP convention based on fears and bashing the opponent while the Dem convention will be more focused on positive things like hope and dare I say it, change.

[kapkomet]

Good point. Both sides seize on statements like this but it seems like in recent years the GOP take it to an extreme, at least from my point of view. In this case it's everyone holding up tire gauges and it was everyone at the '04 convention holding up actual flip flops. Way over the top especially since the Dem convention back then was so much more positive in its message. I envision a similar direction this year with a negative/attack type GOP convention based on fears and bashing the opponent while the Dem convention will be more focused on positive things like hope and dare I say it, change.

BS, I know that your support is genuine, and you're an issues guy. I wholeheartedly agree with you on the "flip-flops" and "tire gauges" thing, it's petty, shallow, and stupid, but the GOP will do it anyway.

 

However, my biggest issue with the Democrat Party is the way they make people think that they need their government, it's much more psychological warefare on their front. They want to make decisions for people (we'll decide energy policy, we'll decide what's safe to eat, we'll decide what people should make and how much money to take, we'll decide what's best for your health care, etc.) - that's the fundamental difference I have with the Democrat party. Unfortunately, the GOP is not a hell of a lot better anymore, they've totally abandoned small government, and for that I cannot look the other way. "CHANGE", on that level, isn't change, and that's why I think I have such a hard time with Barack Obama. He's not wanting change, he's wanting control.

[BigSqwert]

However, my biggest issue with the Democrat Party is the way they make people think that they need their government, it's much more psychological warefare on their front. They want to make decisions for people (we'll decide energy policy....

What is the GOP offering that has the people decide their energy policy? That doesn't even make sense to me.

[NorthSideSox72]

It has to do with taking delivery. If people take delivery, that is true demand.

That.

 

Ben Stein may be a smart guy, but he doesn't appear to understand the futures markets.

 

[Balta1701]

That.

 

Ben Stein may be a smart guy, but he doesn't appear to understand the futures markets.

There's more than a few things Ben Stein doesn't understand.

[kapkomet]

I just read it because I saw the headline of the article. I often times find his logic is a little suspect on financial things.