Gasoline prices pose problems for Obama

[Archbob]

I find it interesting that americans are more bothered by fuel prices than federal debt. The federal debt is 50 000 per head or 200 000 for a family of four. No one could possibly spend that much on fuel.

Americans really need to get out of their giant trucks. People in Europe think you are compensating for something. In Europe penis and truck size are negatively correlated. I haven't been in a car for weeks, about 10% of my friends on cars. We don't suffer from it one bit.

Thats what you think. I have a fuel burning plant in my basement whose purpose is to burn fuel while not producing anything, just for the sake of burning fuel.

 

[Cutlass]

Sorry, I somehow missed this page.



I don't think people going bankrupt over transportation is good, or that we should leave things the way they are. I think we should change things so that people don't go bankrupt over transportation. Nobody wants to hear it.

As others have said, drilling is not going to significantly lower prices or postpone the inevitable. Even if we could reduce prices by 10% and increase our supply in time by 10% purely by drilling, which I would but won't argue that we can't, the biggest effect would be that people would sleep a bit later.

I also would but won't argue that finding other fuel sources isn't going to cut it. We need to slash our energy use dramatically.



Actually, folks that have to pay a lot of money for oil are going to try to figure out ways to do what they need to do without buying that expensive oil.

We will never lower the price 10% though US drilling. 2% would be an extremely high price change to shoot for.

 

[NickyJ]

A lot of things can be done in the time being to get the prices of gas down while we search for alternatives. We could stop interfering in Libya so that they can finish their civil war and get their oil back on the market. Speculating on oil also causes a lot of the high prices, we should ban buying oil unless you are going to physically take possesion of the oil, no more buying it on paper and bidding the price up.

Getting out of Libya would not get their oil back on the market. Then it would be at greater risk of Gaddafi destroying it or not shipping it.

I think the real thing to do is for the federal reserve stop printing so much money. It's making the dollar worthless, which means we have to pay more for less, thus, higher oil prices.

 

[El_Machinae]

Dropping demand for oil (especially by wasting less) is the functional equivalent of increasing supply. It's a great way of bringing down the price, and also helps make sure that oil being burnt is being burnt for economically good reasons.

 

[warpus]

Kind of a shame that the U.S. is built around the automobile. When gas prises fluctuate it affects everyone way more than it should.

You need to diversify! Look at Germany - they have an excellent highway system, but also have all of their major cities connected by a kick-ass rail network. Sure, the U.S. is huge compared to Germany, but a country built around the automobile is going to feel these sorts of pressures a lot more frequently.

 

[NickyJ]

Kind of a shame that the U.S. is built around the automobile. When gas prises fluctuate it affects everyone way more than it should.

You need to diversify! Look at Germany - they have an excellent highway system, but also have all of their major cities connected by a kick-ass rail network. Sure, the U.S. is huge compared to Germany, but a country built around the automobile is going to feel these sorts of pressures a lot more frequently.

Question: What fuel do the trains on those railroads use?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

I'm guessing diesel or electricity.

What do you think is more fuel efficient - a kick ass train or a car? EDIT: Per passenger mile, of course.

 

[duckstab]

One of the dumbest issues in the whole thing is that people assume we could drill our way out of the problem if only the government would get out of the way. The reality is that at current use trends, the US will never be free of imports, no matter what drilling takes place. There just isn't that much oil left in the US.

And what domestic oil we do have is more expensive to extract. It's only when the price rises that it even becomes economically feasible to talk about deep water wells and other techniques for getting at most of it. To say nothing of the fact that it would take a long time to bring that production online. One unfortunate effect of oil prices being driven up by speculation much more than actual supply and demand is that the price is going to be very spiky. Unless there's a sustained rise in prices it's not likely anyone is going to take the financial risk of developing those reserves.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

A lot of things can be done in the time being to get the prices of gas down while we search for alternatives. We could stop interfering in Libya so that they can finish their civil war and get their oil back on the market.

Oh, but why just stop interfering ? If you really want to end the civil war quickly you could interfere on the old regime's behalf.
You could use your planes to bomb the rebels instead of preventing the Lybian forces to bomb them.
Send in some marines as lookouts while Qhadaffis mercs are raping the women. It will raise morale among the loyalists.

 

[El_Machinae]

I'll point out that it's not just speculation in oil that's causing prices to rise. There's a general trend towards commodity investment in natural resources. There're real worries that there's not going to be enough 'stuff' in the next 20 years. And the investors want to own that stuff. Food is going to be big for speculation for the next while

 

[MobBoss]

Kind of a shame that the U.S. is built around the automobile. When gas prises fluctuate it affects everyone way more than it should.

You need to diversify! Look at Germany - they have an excellent highway system, but also have all of their major cities connected by a kick-ass rail network. Sure, the U.S. is huge compared to Germany, but a country built around the automobile is going to feel these sorts of pressures a lot more frequently.

Actually, the amount of oil used to produce gasoline is a drop in the bucket compared to oil used for other purposes, like making plastics, and other petroleum based products.....thank you Discovery Channel for educating me on that.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Question: What fuel do the trains on those railroads use?

Pantograph wires.

The point being made about trains (one with which I very heartily agree) is that carbon footprint per person is lowered, since a train that can carry 400 people but only has 150 on it takes the same amount of power to move as if it had 350 people on it. This is true even of diesel locomotives.

Actually, the amount of oil used to produce gasoline is a drop in the bucket compared to oil used for other purposes, like making plastics, and other petroleum based products.....thank you Discovery Channel for educating me on that.

Which is why recycling is ossimsauce.

 

[Bill3000]

Why in hell do people love ethanol?

Because it makes you drunk?

 

[El_Machinae]

U.S. Energy Information Administration

California Energy Commission

???

 

[MobBoss]

Not all oil is crude oil (fit for making fuel)??? Dunno. I just remember seeing that on that program about oil.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Not all women are crude, but the best ones are.

 

[Cheetah]

Not all oil is crude oil (fit for making fuel)??? Dunno. I just remember seeing that on that program about oil.

You must have missed something from the program then (though I feel Discovery channel has lost quality in the last decade, so maybe it was actually wrong).

All oil is crude oil. The purity (extra sulfur, etc.) of the crude varies a bit, which is why crude oil is priced a bit differently depending on its quality (think Brent Crude, WTI, Dubai Crude). But it is all crude oil.

Crude oil is pumped, stored, transported and stored at its destinations. It is then refined (which is why Japan had an oil refinery burning after the earthquake, even though they have no oil sources themselves).

The vast majority of crude oil is refined into liquid fuel. Especially two types of transportation takes most of the refined oil, and is completely dependent on it as well: Motor vehicles and airplanes (also small boats, but they're mostly for spare time use, and not essential). Everything else can in theory be run on electricity, gas, coal and lots of other stuff.

Personal cars is the greatest consumer of oil. And since most people need their cars to transport them to many of the same places, it is essential for us fixing our energy problems that we make it possible to use less personal cars and more public transportation.

 

[warpus]

Actually, the amount of oil used to produce gasoline is a drop in the bucket compared to oil used for other purposes, like making plastics, and other petroleum based products.....thank you Discovery Channel for educating me on that.

Which is even more troubling, but does not detract from my point that a country built around the automobile is going to feel more pressure when gas prices fluctuate than one that has diversified (or whatever you want to call it)

 

[Ayatollah So]

Corn ethanol was always conceived of as a bridge.

Sure, if by "bridge" you mean "cash cow" and "vote getting machine". And I have to say, it's very effective.

Dropping demand for oil (especially by wasting less) is the functional equivalent of increasing supply. It's a great way of bringing down the price, and also helps make sure that oil being burnt is being burnt for economically good reasons.

This tactic also has the advantages that it can make a huge dent using existing technology with a small up-front investment. And there are plenty more efficiency technologies nearing fruition and yet more in earlier stages of development.

 

[Mercenary82]

Getting out of Libya would not get their oil back on the market. Then it would be at greater risk of Gaddafi destroying it or not shipping it.

I think the real thing to do is for the federal reserve stop printing so much money. It's making the dollar worthless, which means we have to pay more for less, thus, higher oil prices.

He won't sell it to US or Europe, but he will sell it to Russia and China, that means it is back on the global market because China will buy less oil from people we buy oil from.