So what do you think of *'s "Field of Dreams" energy plan....

[rzemanfl]

"build refineries and the oil will come." What kind of yutzes come up with these plans? Oh, Halliburton, I forgot.

[Speck Tater]

1. Cut out the middle man. Just build more gas stations!

Then competition between them would start price wars and the price of gas would plummet.

Or import camels to Death Valley. Everyone knows where there are camels there's bound to be oil.

This is "cargo cult" mentality.

[rzemanfl]

5. Or just leave the cap off your tank and let Jesus fill it. Love the

cargo cult bit!

Do you think that the competition would mean that they might bring back the guys that checked your oil, washed your windows and gave you gifts like bars of soap for stopping there? I'm all for that!

[pbartch]

10. ONE thing I am excited about......ETHANOL !!! Hubby is going to

make ETHANOL for our own use. We are going to get a special stil and manufacture it. We will get GOOD Tax credits too. If we can sell the machine to other people.....perhaps we can get $$$ being a distributor!!!!

[Zynx]

2. US Refinery capacity shortage *is* a major bottleneck problem

But I really doubt the military base idea will go anywhere.

[AValdoux]

3. Unclear about a few things

Will the US Govt own the refineries?

Are we giving the land to the oil refinery companies?

Will the government pay for any of the cost? using tax credits?

The answers don't matter it still doesn't make sense. What about conservation like they did in WWII? They are so in oil's pocket no one has the courage to say "People, conserve for your country"


AValdoux

[jedr]

4. the" military base" thing gives the oil companies;

free land and probably puts them out of the control of EPA...makes prefect sense....try a little conservation, they can't make money on that!

[BlueEyedSon]

6. Oil companies are not stupid. They are also PLENTY greedy.

If they could increase the velocity of money coming in (i.e. profits) by building refineries, they would make the capital investment.

IOW, there must be a reason that more refineries are NOT worth building. My guess is that the bottleneck is the oilfields (pumping the oil up out of the ground), either currently or very soon. In the short-term they could refine and get more product to market, but with peak oil immanent, additional refining capacity will only be worthwhile for a few years (if at all) and not for enough years to recoup the investment.

[htuttle]

7. Unless the taxpayers pay for the refineries

Then, I'm sure they'd love to have them.

BTW, I think we actually passed peak oil just this year. I read that the market expects to come up a few hundred thousand barrels short of demand in 2006 (for the first time). I can't find any link on this quickly (still looking), but I think read it about 4 or 5 months ago.

[rzemanfl]

8. Bingo. The only thing I heard remotely connected to energy

conservation is some sort of tax credit for new generation diesels. They will probably be Hummers with an extra room on the back for the in-laws (or hookers).

[SpiralHawk]

13. Hookers ! you're not dragging Jeff Gannon into the oil crisis are you?

I think the Republicans have suffered quite enough in-u-end-O about the gay male prostitute who got 'into' the White House 196 times over the last 2 years. I really wish you hadn't reminded us all of Jeff Gannon and the maleprostitute scandal, even though I'm sure it does somehow have something to do (lubrication?) with the oil pickle (so to speak) that Bush and the kinky-prostitute-shielding that Republicans have fomented.

[jwirr]

9. I kept thinking that if the farmer builds a corn crib

and the crop fails there still isn't enough corn to feed the hungry. This may answer the immediate problem of storage space but it does not answer the problem of peak oil. No matter how the repugs try to ignore it we are going to have to talk about other sources of energy. The bushies are counting on the rapture so that leaves only us to confront the problem.

[rzemanfl]

11. But if that same farmer clears out some corn and builds a

baseball diamond all sorts of cool shit happens. This is a faith-based plan, don't clutter it with reality. It makes the people who are losing military bases happy because they are now getting refineries, which of course don't pollute or smell. Plus, the refinery workers won't get drunk on passes or try to screw the local girls (at least in theory).

[elehhhhna]

12. My pal from Exxon says the oil co's haven't built more refineries 'cuz

new ones have to comply with lots of annoying regulations, while old ones are grandfathered in, pollution-wise, etc.

[Pepperbelly]

15. The REAL REASON they haven't built them ...

Have you not ever noticed how often the oil megoloplies cite refinery maintainence and mistakes in switching from heating oil to gasoline as reasons for spiking the price at the pump when there is no other reason? Note, too, the comensurate spike in their profits.

Disgusting.

[Pepperbelly]

14. same rehashed shit they've been saying since Kenny Boy and Little ...

Dick Cheney holed up together and produced the reach around for the energy business they demurely called their Energy Plan.

[gristy]

16. building refineries on old military bases....

Amazing... Yeah, I imagine the oil business (one and the same as the BFEE) would love that handout. Could they be any more obvious?