Bush Urges Conservation as Gas Prices Rise (avoid non-essential driving)

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Bush Urges Conservation as Retail Gas Prices Rise
By VIKAS BAJAJ
Published: September 26, 2005


President Bush called on the Americans today to conserve gasoline and avoid non-essential driving as the average national prices for retail gasoline climbed higher for the first time since they peaked over the Labor Day weekend.

The president's remarks appeared to reflect concerns that gasoline supplies may remain tight and prices will rise further, even as the energy industry and analysts were breathing a sigh of relief over the limited scope of damage at Texas refineries from Hurricane Rita.

"We can all pitch in by being better conservers," Mr. Bush said after being briefed on the hurricanes' impact on the energy industry at the Energy Department. "People just need to recognize that these storms have caused disruptions." In addition to urging consumers to cut back to ease the pain of the current supply shortages, he said federal employees should use carpool and public transport and not take non-essential trips.

Retail price increases were most acute in Texas, the Gulf Coast and Southeast, areas closest to and most dependent on oil refineries in or near the hurricane's path. Nationwide, the average price for regular unleaded gasoline was $2.80 a gallon today, up from $2.748 the day before, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

The president also said the nation needed to relax regulations on the construction of new oil refineries. A new refinery has not been built in the United States in almost 30 years, although companies have expanded capacity at existing plants and are running them closer to 100 percent capacity....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/26/business/26cnd-gas.html?ei=5094&en=53f023b3f0228c1e&hp=&ex=1127793600&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1127775603-jQYWlCZQ2F8jM9CcPWbr+Q

[ixion]

1. he said, as he packed up his entourage for yet another photo op

:eyes:

[NYC]

How much fuel is wasted on each photo op?

Not only the fuel for Air Force One, but the cars (heavily armoured for Bush) for everyone who goes to and from the airport at each end of the trip.

Cut back on the photo ops, and a lot of fuel will be saved. Might as well turn out the lights in the White House, too. What good comes out of there?

[starri]

7. He's turned out the lights

In his head.

[area51]

43. Welcome.

Welcome to DU, starri.

[DeepModem Mom]

73. LOL! Welcome to DU, starri!

[Why Syzygy]

48. Exactly!

Can he stop taking "non-essential" (and worthless) trips to Texas?
Keep him away from here.

Jeeze. This guy is a total loss.

Hey. Wouldn't it be great if peak oil comes to fruition and he has no fuel for a plane or limo? heheeheheheheeeeeeeee ..
yeah, Georgie. thanks for the NON-leadership and the total bogus "energy" bill!

[NYC]

67. He's planning more photo ops in the hurricane zone.

I heard it on the news today.

Look at the WW2 poster in post #65. Too bad people can't get close enough to him to hold those in the audience.

[trogdor]

62. THANK YOU!

Somebody should carry that old World War II poster wherever he is that asks, "is this trip really necessary?"

Yep, and he wants me to be a better "conserver." Right. I saw video of that little spiel and it was typical Bush pathetic half-assedness. Print doesn't convey that.

[NYC]

65. I found the WW2 poster. Is YOUR trip necessary?

[NYC]

68. Another WW2 poster. (This is fun.)

[NYC]

69. Third and final WW2 poster.

[evworldeditor]

71. Nearly $170,000 in jet fuel so far...

according to Philadelphia Daily News

http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002382.html

Bill Moore
EV WORLD
http://www.evworld.com

[Divernan]

35. So, if Bush has photo ops, the "terraists" win?

Actually, as long as Bush remains in office, the terrorists will continue to win, cause he needs them winning to justify throwing the next three generations of taxpayers' dollars to his corporate cronies.

[ixion]

37. I'm just sayin'

that if he want's to set a good example (as a leader should) he would save fuel by not traveling in a massive bubble, which consumes a few hundred gallons per hour, more than a small city.

that's all...

[BikeWriter]

60. Why do you hate America?

[starri]

2. The Great Communicator

"Better conservers?" Man, never manages to get one out without mangling it somehow.

[skooooo]

3. Gee...you mean like Carter encouraged?

...and was beat up for?

[Le Taz Hot]

61. Thank you for that reminder

I remember Carter and the Congress putting in a wonderful energy plan that funded alternative fuel research, encouraged conservation, gave tax credits for things like insulating your house, purchasing solar panels, etc. A few of those programs are still in place from private industry (P.G. & E) but the federal government all but abandoned them. And do we remember under which administration that happened? I do. Reagan. It was the same administration's "scientists" who said there is no such thing as global warming. I wish we could gather up each and every one of those hacks and strip them of every college degree they ever thought of having.

[SlipperySlope]

4. Don't misquote the President!

Look at what the man REALLY said:

"I mean, people just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption and that if they're able to maybe not drive when they -- on a trip that's not essential, that would helpful."

Now, isn't that much clearer?

:sarcasm:

[UpInArms]

15. I wonder if he spoke with heartless Dick before he utter the word

"conservation"?

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0502-01.htm

May 2, 2001

Vice-president Dick Cheney dismissed on Monday night the idea of "conserving or rationing" as 1970s-era solutions to the US's energy shortages.

In a speech in Toronto, Mr Cheney said that "conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.

He rejected energy conservation and renewable energy sources as major alternatives, promoting nuclear power as good for the environment since it emitted few greenhouse gases, ignoring the problems of nuclear waste disposal."

[Why Syzygy]

49. Oh lessee ....

storm coming ... drive away ... not essential?

Is he asking for random victims here?

Oh. And don't forget. There's enough oil in Ira*q to finance the war. And all that.

What a BONEHEAD!

[HockeyMom]

5. I drive 100 miles a week

just back and forth to work. There is no public transportation and nobody who lives near me I can carpool with. Other than driving about 2 miles on the weekend to food shop, I go nowhere else. How the hell can I CONSERVE?

[NYC]

6. Do you know how wasteful it is

to drive to work? Can't you go on photo ops instead? Only photo ops, complete with entourage, are not wasteful.

Please stop working, and start scheduling photo ops. Your nation thanks you.

[Megahurtz]

18. Lol!

:D

[illuminaughty]

53. Yes, any true Merkin needs not only to schedule photo ops

but try to bring all emergency services to a stop while you're doing it. (Of course, you must spend a minimum of a couple mil securing your own safety. Welding shut manhole covers, hiring a fleet of Blackwell mercenaries, removing Nat'l Guard from all necessary duties to cover lazy worthless blue-checkered shirt wearing ass)

Thanks for the laugh NYC. We all need it desperately at this point.

[Missy M]

13. That is my situation too HockeyMom - mine is about 150 miles...

a week to work.

[JoFerret]

17. That's nothing

...check out Monty Python's Three Yorkshiremen and quite whining. Walk - crawl, starved, and beaten.

[orwell]

8. Clue Phone

for "Dickie" Cheney. Conservation is no longer...I repeat...no longer a "personal virtue."

That is all... :eyes:

[Why Syzygy]

50. Oh BUT!

I paid $23.00 for 8 gallons of gas today. What an un-freaking-believable pleasure that was!

[MiniMe]

9. Perhaps he should stop traveling so much to push his latest agenda.

Or as another poster said, stop flying places for photo ops, like flying to Colorado to sit there and look stupid. Once again, the idiot son.

btw, I agree with the message, but it shouldn't just be because of the hurricanes. Plus, he should set an example.

[Occulus]

10. Will Bush be treated like Carter was for the sweaters comment? n/t

[struggle4progress]

11. Is he gonna stop taking 10,000 camp followers with him ..

.. wherever he goes ... ?

[tularetom]

12. I'm confused

after 9-11 we were told to go out and shop as a response to the terrorists. We've never been told to stop shopping. How the hell are we supposed to do it without using gas.

[DeepModem Mom]

16. I had the same thought -- it takes gas to get to the Mall. nt

[bobbieinok]

32. agree...once again W creates confusion..are we to shop or conserve gas??

[IndyJones]

75. You should shop on the "internets".

[Why Syzygy]

55. And don't forget

it takes a LOT of fuel to light up the mall.

WHY do so many people go to the mall? I just don't get it.
I HATE the Mall.

[amber dog democrat]

36. silly, use the internet.

buy everything on line. That's how we can defeat terrorism.

[illuminaughty]

54. And we were told to go to Disneyland.

I'm thinking we all should just move to Orlando within walking distance of Disneyland. I'll walk to the rides every damn day...that's just how much I want to help my country.

Hey TulareMom, my family are farmers in Tulare. Are you in county or actual city?

[Catfight]

14. To show he's serious, has he repealed the 100k tax break for Hummers? nt

[goforit]

19. Fuel conserved?? Will Bush loose all his Bush-Hummer supporters?

I guess since Clinton came out and said that High Gas prices
will be good for this country and global warming,

He came out with the opposite strategy.

A little reverse psychology goes a long way.

But then you have Blair doing everything he can to
destroy Global warming improvemnets.

[Eurobabe]

21. I pissed off a Hummer driver on purpose yesterday

with my F the President sticker, he looked at me and I yelled at him about his wasteful, selfish "mehicle."

I see nothing wrong with contractors who need trucks, etc., but these selfish ignorant fucks who drive Hummers should be drawn and quartered.

[ElectroPrincess]

33. Awe, I just point and laugh at the a**hole hummer drivers ...

After all, CNBC says that they can save "oh so many miles per gallon" by keeping their tires inflated. :applause: Oh yeah! Justice for arrogant gas loving right wingers. :-)

[Megahurtz]

20. He's trying to trap us all! n/t

[ramapo]

22. He is such an idiot

I caught a glimpse of him trying to proclaim what folks might do to conserve. He had trouble straightening out his thought process even for so mundane a topic.

[kalibex]

23. B-b-b-ut...

...how will we be good little consumers and stimulate the economy if we're not out driving around from mall to mall, spending money...?

[progressoid]

38. Clearly, the terrists have won

[hyphenate]

59. Yes--they have

The American ones, anyhow.

[henslee]

24. Bush has never carpooled unless you count the times he got drunk and had

to let someone else drive him home. Bwahhhhh.

[opusprime]

25. Relax Regulations??

With the oil companies making record profits, Exxon-Mobil is reporting more than $7 Billion in profit per quarter, I think they can afford to build some environmently friendly refineries.

We all have to sacrifice George, even your greedy buddies soaking us for oil profits.

($7 Billion a quarter = $28 Billion a year) x 4 years = $112 Billion.

How much could a safe refinery cost? A billion? 2 billion?

I think they can afford it.

[getmeouttahere]

46. Man, isn't that the truth....

even better, convert their refineries to renewable energy facilities

[hippiechick]

26. Pretty soon only the very rich will have cars ...

... which means only the very rich will be able to shop where they choose, live where they choose, and oh yeah - get to a polling place on election day ? - that too.

Welcome to America's new caste system.

[Gregorian]

41. That's just the way we started the last century.

People took the electric trolleys. And they'd see the mayor in his car. And the rest is history.

[54anickel]

27. Cripes, wtf does he think we've been doing? Look at last weeks

petroleum inventory reports from Wednesday - People have been cutting back, it's not like the refineries were able to kick it into high gear to produce these inventory numbers.

Motor gasoline inventories UP 2.1 to 3.4 million barrels (depending on which report you look at)

Distillate stocks up 3.2 million barrels, or 800,000 barrels (again depends on which report you look at) :crazy:

The only inventory that was down last week was crude oil. Yet look at the price action since the reports came out - crude down, gas and distillates up.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1795574#1796259

[Redstone]

28. Boeing 747 fuel consumption is about 5 gallons per mile.

So, for bushyboy to run away from Cindy and you other folks, to Texas, then Colorado and back to DC, figure a total of about 2,000 miles, or ten thousand gallons of Jet A.

If you drive a car that averages 20 miles per gallon, you'd get two hundred thousand miles out of that much gasoline; ten years of above-average travel of twenty thousand miles a year.

And bushyboy burned that much in one weekend.

Redstone

[Why Syzygy]

52. But it is his oil

isn't it? I don't even want to write the word on my lips at this moment. It starts with #($&#(&$#(^^!@^@$)$

[MasonJar]

29. We should call the WH and tell Bush to go home to Texas and

stay there so he can save the millions we taxpayers have paid for him to jaunt around looking stupid in photo ops or campaigning with the haves and have mores.

[shavedape]

30. FUD >> higher prices

hell its just the old fear uncertainty and doubt ploy.

[Sadie5]

31. Correct me if I'm mistaken

but I thought our fuel was running out and we needed to find new energy sources, if so, then why build new refineries?

[kestrel91316]

45. And how is a new refinery going to help TODAY'S high gas prices,

pray tell? Don't they take about ten years to f---ing BUILD?????

[Carolab]

34. While they continue to roll tape of him in a Humvee in NOLA.

Hey, *! YOU FIRST, DUMBASS!

[Kablooie]

39. I don't have to...

I've got a 'A' sticker.

Buy War Bonds!

[Demeter]

40. Like Sending Ice From Louisiana to Maine For Temporary Storage?

What a concept!

[pinniped]

42. Go F-yself.

We're conserving gas so these are unnecessary.

--
The POS* also said the nation needed to relax regulations on the construction of new oil refineries.--

[BiggJawn]

44. "Not take non-essntial trips"

Oh, you mean like jetting to Magic mountain, then back to DC, then to the Ranch for a weekend binge, then to Camp David to dry out, then to some Air Force base to wiggle your jaw and blither about "Freedom! People who love Freedom! They look at th' devastaion of Ka-Treena and think 'Boy...Wish WE cudda done thet'...."

Fuck you, you asshole. If I pare down the driving any MORE, I'm gonna be PHONING my job in.

We ain't gonna survive 3 more years of this, knowhuttamean?

[bunny planet]

47. You'll conserve a lot of fuel Bubble boy if you wind down your illegal

war in Iraq.

[NuttyFluffers]

51. Well, thank god we're about to cannibalize Amtrak 'n stuff...

that'll help people conserve now that they'll have even less options.
:sarcasm:

i just wanna say right now to all of this maladministration and their idiotic neo con death cult: "see, i was right, i told you so, and now we'll all have to suffer because of you. we should take it all out on your hides."

[LittleWoman]

56. Just ready to go out the door to catch the bus to work

If the Imperial Chimpiness wants to see the destruction of Hurricane Rita just let him watch the news and stay out of the way. Is this trip really necessary? (note: some of you may remember this phrase from the past)

In the meantime the bus drivers in Columbus,OH have been working without a contract since January and it appears that there may be a bus strike so taking the bus may not be an option in the near future. Add to that it is still dark and will be when I leave. I eagerly await the return to standard time so I do not have to leave in the dark for another couple of months and I will finally be able to get enough sleep. At least for this year and then in 2006 Daylight time will be extended and I and many others will have to wait for the bus in the dark in the morning.

For the majority of Americans day to day living keeps getting to be a worse hassle and this twit keeps making it worse. I have been so angry for so long over the war and the economy and all the rest of the mess the IC has made that I am afraid it has affected my health. The increased stress of daily living is just the icing on the cake.

[Theduckno2]

57. To show some political sincerity he could......

ask NASCAR to cut the distances of all their races in half to get rid of non-essential driving. Fat chance! :)

[hyphenate]

58. Does this fucking idiot

even know that civilian (citizen) use of oil is only a very small fraction of the oil consumption in America? And if he knows, why the fuck doesn't he shut the fuck up?

I really wish he'd go to hell and take Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice, Norton, Gonzales, Delay, Hastert, Frist, Coulter, Robertson, Falwell, O'Lielly, and every other fucking jerk with him on his trip.

[WindyInPA]

63. What does it cost for Dubya to fly around?.... check this out!

Chevy Chase, Md.: What is the yearly cost to operate Air Force One?

Kenneth Walsh: We in the media and oversight committees in Congress look at this regularly and it is difficult to get an accurate number. The budget for Air Force One is spread out in a number of places. But I can give you and idea based on different measures - one is that it cost $40,000 an hour to run the plane (basically for fuel costs). When Truman was flying it cost about $200 an hour, when it was a prop plane. There are some estimate that put the entire budget at around $200 million, but I think that is very low. Part of the expense depends on how many backup aircraft and staff travel with the president. For instance if the president goes to a foreign country for a week everything that you might see on TV - cars in motorcades, helicopters, smaller aircraft the president might use - all this must be transported in advance and you can imagine the cost incurred by the taxpayers. From time to time a fuss is raised about this. Clinton's visit to Asia in 2000 cost taxpayers an estimated $63 million. But criticism of presidents and their flying habits has never become a huge issue with the American public. Americans seem to want their presidents to travel in style, comfort and safety and understand this costs a lot of money. They don't seem to begrudge this to the president no matter who he is.


Copied in its entitety.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/03/special/books/sp_books_walsh052203.htm


We could drive every day all day long for the rest of our lives on what it costs for him to fly around for photo ops! These costs were as of May 22, 2002! A while back I read somewhere that it costs him over $60,000 for the short trips!

HE needs to change his 'driving habits'!:rant:

That's my story!

[DeepModem Mom]

74. Thanks, WindyInPA -- and welcome to DU!

[lse7581011]

64. Just As Soon As He Does!

guess I won't hold my breath!

[gardenista]

66. Has he checked with Unca Dick about that? I thought Cheney said that

conservation was just a "feel good" approach to the energy crisis.

[Supersedeas]

70. and the political image damage control photo ops just keep going and going

and going

[Tight_rope]

72. Fuck!...Bush needs to stop wasting all the fuel that he's been using..

to run all over the place doing nothing. ""We can all pitch in by being better conservers". The bitchass never knew what the word conserve met until all hell broke loose after Hurricane Katherine and Rita. Fuck him! I'm going to drive as much as I want. To bad I was smart enough years ago to buy a small car and find a job close to home. So in fact, I've been conserving for years. So he can just go straight to hell.:spank:

[IndyJones]

76. It's laughable (in a sad way). Like someone told him this for the

first time ever and he thought - wow, what a great idea! I've got to tell the American public this insightful information!