Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
Gas - I've got some	excon	04/30/06
Hello Righty's: You say it's a supply and demand problem and then throw up your hands, as though there isn't anything to be done about it. I agree about the supply and demand problem, however I suggest that there are lots of things we can do. It was, after all, politics that affected the supply and demand problem in the first place. For example, we got a scare in the 70's. It may have been the first time any of realized that oil is finite. We made a few political changes, but then the crisis was over and it was back to cheap gas. Again, we pretended that it wouldn't run out. Well, it's gonna run out, and the closer it gets to that point, the more expensive it's gonna get. That's the REAL supply and demand problem we have. Because we stuck our head in the sand in the past (what were we doing - looking for oil?), we allowed some two bit tyrants to get a lot power over us. They still have that power. What can we do? Take our head out of the sand. Drill? Sure. Nuclear? Of course. Conserve? Makes sense to me. Ethanol? Yes. Hemp (NOT marijuana)could play a very bit roll (but out head is still in the sand). Are there other things we can do? I'll bet there is: solar, wind, geothermal, hydrogen, fusion....... ad infinitem.... Uhhh, leadership on this issue is critical. I see none. excon PS> I address the righty's because you're in charge. But the lefty's got nothing either.
Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 05/01/06 5:59 pm: in Australia the big issue is the price of eggs for wax in Italy .
Answered By		Answered On
tomder55		05/01/06
I do not disagree with anything you said except that as of last year the US did take baby-steps towards a comprehensive plan. Is it enough ...No ;but it is the closest thing we have had that could be called leadership since Jimmy Carter on the issue . A decade ago the US made the initial step towards ethanol conversion by giving credits to agri-businesses that made ethanol . They also slapped a defacto tarrif on ethanol imports . The US auto manufactures created engines capable of the conversion . And then the movement died . Last year Congress instituted mandatory E-10 % summer blend . The recent spike is due to the fact that all the stations have to empty and scrub their tanks before the new blend can be filled . Then there is a shortage of domestic ethanol in spite of the tax credits ...and imported ethanol is artificially expensive . Combine that with uncertainty over the oil supply due to Iran and the Islamic 'rebels ' in Nigeria who are disrupting about 25 % of the prefered light crude supply that comes from Nigeria and well ...it's a mess . You know where I stand . I consider conversion to domestic supplies of energy a national security priority . We had 30 years we squandered but that is in the past . We are in a situation now where our short sightedness means that effectively we are funding both sides of WWIII .

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