Record gas prices; Bush to blame

[Edison]

This hit the news outlets late last week. Apparently when Hussein was taken out and the Iraqi oil refineries became 'available', the Bush White House directed all the negotiations with big U.S. oil companies.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080707/klare

Remember a month ago, when Bush had the balls to blame our Democratic Congress for record oil prices because they won't allow oil companies drill off U.S. shorelines? Did anybody buy that bill of goods?

Well, once again; here's more evidence that Bush, Cheney, and our corrupt administration has thrown this country and its economy overboard.

[mrandy]

Meh, it's the fault of a nation. It's not like the Democrats have the stones to ration, which is the only thing that would work in a world where you refuse to drill, refuse to use coal, refuse to open Yucca Mountain or any place to Nuke waste. Just yelling green jobs and green economy doesn't make it happen and suddenly displaced auto workers go to work in a magical tree like Keebler elves. Wind needs to find a solution either through storage or transmission. Our power grid is still pretty much the same one that had that blackout. The best solar requires Tellurium which is exceedingly rare. Honestly America is in a really tough place and a lot of people are going to have a noticable lower standard of living ten years from now.

[Telfer]

Looks like old GW is finally gonna pay!

[kremidas]

Looks like old GW is finally gonna pay!

Oh how I wish that this wasn't so funny...

[Leslieface]

I went on a road trip and it was just "hilarious" that I thought gas at 3.89 was "cheap".

oh god.

[Edison]

More details on this issue. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/02/AR2008070203322.html?hpid=topnews)

Disgusting, but somehow not surprising.

[schaefe]

Curiously, from a purely economic standpoint, we are still not in an oil shortage yet. The price is still to low (at least in the US). Hasn't even gotten close to its equilibrium point yet.

It was an interesting Econ class on Monday...

[Edison]

Oh you know it, Schaefe. there is no oil shortage, like there was no oil shortage during the "Energy Crisis" of the Nixon administration.
It's all so much bullshit.

It's about controlling the oil and keeping the rest of us completely dependent on it. And sadly most administrations have towed that line like an obedient pooch.
It's history repeating itself. In the early 70s the middle east realized how badly they were getting fucked by western oil tycoons and said; "Enough is enough." The oil companies had to play more fair, but just passed their extra costs onto the American consumer via the pump.
And voila! Gone were the days of 40 cents a gallon.

Then look what happened after the Nixon and Ford administrations; Jimmy Carter inherited the economic mess they left and it almost buried him. But conservation efforts became a matter of U.S. policy, and American auto makers were starting to wise up and make smaller, more gas efficient cars. "Let's not be so dependent on foreign oil?" Jimmy Carter said it first, people.
We were actually going green in the 70s.

What happened? Ronald Reagan was elected President and all of that went out the window. Among the litany of damaging policies he enacted? Record-high spending/debt, tax breaks and subsidies for the oil companies, severe industrial deregulation (including toxic dumping and carbon emissions).
It didn't take long before gas-guzzling extended-cab Chevy trucks, Hummers and SUVs were the hottest new way of showing your proud American consumer spirit (as well as your state of denial).

There is a consistent and concerted effort, certainly during Republican administrations, to give the oil companies as much freedom and control as possible with virtually no oversight. And know this; they're not going to stop.

Essentially, this country has abandoned gold and has been on the 'oil standard' for the past 35 years.

[schaefe]

Actually, I think it is a little simpler than that, though if Carter would have been able to push through his initiatives then (rather than now) it would have come with a much cheaper price tag.

I think (and this is all just my opinion, mind you--I'm not a trained economist, so I could be off base here) it all revolves around avoidance of high startup costs and a lot of retooling some of the country's basic infrastructure. Back in the late 70's/early 80's, I think they decided that in the short run moving toward more fuel efficiencies and conservation efforts would be more damaging to the economy that was currently undergoing a recession with high inflation on top of that.

Now, we don't have any choice. Soon, people will not be able to afford basic fuel costs, and companies will be placed in a hard spot as they attempt to pass their fuel costs to consumers. However, it will still take several years for the automanufacturers to retool for the new consumer demand. Only GM really seems to be moving in the right direction, but the Volt will not be ready until 2010. Toyota could have had it all in the bag, but didn't ramp up to meet the demand.

Its even starting to get easier to commute in Atlanta. Less people are driving! Another possible short term side effect is that car-caused pollution may start to go down. The railroad companies are starting to rake it in as a lot of companies are shifting back to rail for long distance transport...

[Edison]

Yeah, NOW it's a must, because it's affecting the cost of everything else enough. Back then they had a choice. Even when GW was elected, there were promises of 'alternative energy initiatives'. Then Cheney decided it was 'against the economy's best interest' to explore alternative energy, and Bush has snubbed virtually every energy summit and G8 conference held.
I'm just tired of the ongoing bullshit.

Oil companies and politicians have been keeping a stranglehold on the status quo even though it'll eventually collapse like a house of cards. I understand the infrastructure needs to adapt and integrate these changes slowly, but they've had 35 years to start implementing and even improving them, and nobody's done nearly enough in this country. Now it's at the point where MOST government-funded science and research of ANY kind is a low priority in this country. We're way behind in advances in medicine, education, science, engineering.
And we still make shitty cars.
WTF? This is a nation steeped in car culture. We invented it.
Can't we get that right? If for no other reason than; it's 'macho'.

The good news? As always, money talks in America. Consumer demand for hybrid cars is skyrocketing, and sales on vehicles like $55,000 Chevy Tahoe's are way down. What's more? Resale value on Toyota Prius' are near new list prices. Car dealers are buying them back for top dollar because other people want pre-owned hybrids so badly.

It's this kind of consumer demand that fuels changes in the infrastructure.
No, we won't be seeing hydrogen-cell refueling stations popping up overnight, but Toyota announced plans for making Prius' with solar collector roofs.
It's baby steps, and as much as I wish the corporations and politicians would finally get off their collective ass already, I'm finally starting to see things happen that should have happened back in the 70s.

..as opposed to things like 'disco'.

But now? It's financially feasible for a family to get off the grid without living like hobos, or hippies in a commune. That's saying something.