Gougers II
These two articles were next to each other on the front of the WSJ Online edition (I suspect these are pay articles):
In fact, that was still a part of the Democrats' strategy as recently as 2001, when the Senate Energy Committee, led by Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) after the Jeffords defection, produced an energy bill with this interesting bit of pork in it:
We ought to be damn glad they make lots of money when things go badly and we refuse to change our own behavior. Just imagine if there were no more money to be made in a crisis not of their or our doing? There wouldn't be less money to be made, either, so it wouldn't benefit anyone to redirect fuel from areas like California to areas like Georgia. In the wake of both Wilma and the other storm, the prosecution of "gougers" by the state of Florida, there have been shortages in southern Florida. Duh.
Meanwhile, the recent spate of gasoline prices rises due to rising Asian (Chinese) demand, a decade of depressed exploration and development worldwide, constantly rising western (especially American) demand, tension in the Mideast, and bad weather have raised the related issues of global warming, terrorism, the energy dependence of our way of life, and the central player - petroleum - to levels not seen since 1983. Americans are interested once again in fuel economy, and Toyota and VW are ready for them while GM has its thumb up its collective butt. Every environmentalist in the world ought to get up every morning and thank the CEO of Exxon Mobil that he and the other oil companies are making record profits and not running a loss in order to "hook" us on cheap oil. They ought to realize that BP and Shell, also raking in record profits, are putting those profits right back into their solar and hydrogen research.
The populists - Bill O'Reilly, Dick Durbin, Dennis Hastert, Dick Morris, Jack Kingston, etc. - are calling for action against the oil companies. Newsflash: The problem isn't them. They only supply it and take the best price they can get. Otherwise, they would have run the price up years ago, and it would not have collapsed again in the last week. The problem is us; we keep demanding more and more fuel. Anyone suppose that any of the people listed above has changed their lifestyle by switching to a more economical car?
The only politician I've seen say anything approaching sensible on this issue has been Nancy Pelosi, who called for a repeal of "the tax breaks and subsidies provided to oil and gas companies in an energy bill President Bush signed into law earlier this year." In other words, let's return to something approaching an actual free market, not the mishmash of rules, regulations, tax breaks, sweetheart deals, subsidies, etc.
Amen.
High Price of Gas is Boon for BiofuelsHonestly, you couldn't make this stuff up if'n ya wanted to. In 1998, when the price of oil collapsed to $11 per barrel, the then-secretary of the Department of Energy, who happens to be the now-Governor of New Mexico, proposed a bail-out for the strategically critical oil companies who were being hurt by that "unfortunate" turn of events. Today, the populists want the oil companies to bail us out.
Exxon Mobil Profit Surges 75%
In fact, that was still a part of the Democrats' strategy as recently as 2001, when the Senate Energy Committee, led by Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) after the Jeffords defection, produced an energy bill with this interesting bit of pork in it:
Sec. 606. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Development Credit. Counter-cyclical tax credit for domestic development drilling and enhanced recovery work for natural gas and oil during periods of very low oil prices. Applies when oil is below $11/barrel, phasing out at $14. Intended to maintain stable investment in new drilling to keep the oil and gas service industry employed and to maintain stable natural gas supplies.Actually, the oil companies already are "bailing us out". How many people actually changed their behavior when Katrina and Rita took 1/3 of the refineries offline? A few, but our consumption didn't fall by anywhere near 1/3. Somehow, the entire industry (or collection of industries) that pump, transport, refine, transport, and market gasoline were able to respond to that unplanned series of events, with barely a bump in the supply. Obviously, since people went right on doing what they wanted, and willingly paid the advertised price, we benefitted from that service. For this we should thank them; they don't ask that, though. They just want to be paid the advertised asking price.
We ought to be damn glad they make lots of money when things go badly and we refuse to change our own behavior. Just imagine if there were no more money to be made in a crisis not of their or our doing? There wouldn't be less money to be made, either, so it wouldn't benefit anyone to redirect fuel from areas like California to areas like Georgia. In the wake of both Wilma and the other storm, the prosecution of "gougers" by the state of Florida, there have been shortages in southern Florida. Duh.
Meanwhile, the recent spate of gasoline prices rises due to rising Asian (Chinese) demand, a decade of depressed exploration and development worldwide, constantly rising western (especially American) demand, tension in the Mideast, and bad weather have raised the related issues of global warming, terrorism, the energy dependence of our way of life, and the central player - petroleum - to levels not seen since 1983. Americans are interested once again in fuel economy, and Toyota and VW are ready for them while GM has its thumb up its collective butt. Every environmentalist in the world ought to get up every morning and thank the CEO of Exxon Mobil that he and the other oil companies are making record profits and not running a loss in order to "hook" us on cheap oil. They ought to realize that BP and Shell, also raking in record profits, are putting those profits right back into their solar and hydrogen research.
The populists - Bill O'Reilly, Dick Durbin, Dennis Hastert, Dick Morris, Jack Kingston, etc. - are calling for action against the oil companies. Newsflash: The problem isn't them. They only supply it and take the best price they can get. Otherwise, they would have run the price up years ago, and it would not have collapsed again in the last week. The problem is us; we keep demanding more and more fuel. Anyone suppose that any of the people listed above has changed their lifestyle by switching to a more economical car?
The only politician I've seen say anything approaching sensible on this issue has been Nancy Pelosi, who called for a repeal of "the tax breaks and subsidies provided to oil and gas companies in an energy bill President Bush signed into law earlier this year." In other words, let's return to something approaching an actual free market, not the mishmash of rules, regulations, tax breaks, sweetheart deals, subsidies, etc.
Amen.
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