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Massive fuel spill closes part of Mississippi River
One more reason to switch over to renewable energy and end a strangle-hold oil has on the United States. And apparently this is even less than the spills that happened during Hurricane Katrina. I think more and more incidents like this are a true wake-up call... if the gas prices aren't enough. One more reason to switch over to renewable energy and end a strangle-hold oil has on the United States. And apparently this is even l... more
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Oil-rich Norway has most expensive petrol prices
"In Norway, many motorists are up in arms over why they have to pay the highest petrol (gasoline) prices in Europe when the country is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a recent tax hike has done little to cool tempers.
"It is really strange: we have lots of oil and we're a rich country. Why do we have to pay so much?" asks Per-Arne Skjerpingstad, a 38-year-old hospital porter as he fills up the tank of his Peugeot 307 at an Oslo gas station for 750 kroner (94 euros, 148 dollars).
Diesel costs 14.23 kroner (1.78 euros, 2.82 dollars) a litre (quarter gallon) and 95 unleaded 13.84 kroner, putting it at the top of the European league, EU figures show.
And while many countries are discussing how to soften the blow of skyrocketing oil prices on consumers, Norway on July 1 increased its already heavy tax take by 0.05 kroner per litre on petrol and 0.10 kroner (0.1 euro cent, 0.2 dollar cent) on diesel.
Seven out of 10 Norwegians oppose the tax increase, according to a July poll by the daily VG.
"It's not the way to go. In a country like Norway, people need to have cars. I bought this car because I'm going to be a father soon," Skjerpingstad said.
Critics argue it is meaningless to increase taxation when oil prices have risen so much in the past months. And as the new tax increase is low, it won't significantly change drivers' behaviour."
More at the link. "In Norway, many motorists are up in arms over why they have to pay the highest petrol (gasoline) prices in Europe when the country is... more -
Colorado, Wyoming battle Bush over oil shale
Administration's proposed rules renew environmental, technology debate
The Bush administration's push Tuesday to speed up development of oil shale in the Rocky Mountains runs headlong into Colorado and Wyoming leaders, who say the environmental costs are too high and the technology unproven.
The Interior Department unveiled proposed regulations Tuesday for a program to sell oil shale leases on federal lands, similar to the leases sold now for oil and natural gas both on and offshore.
The move comes after Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., last year inserted language into a spending bill that bars the federal government from issuing final rules for commercial oil-shale development.
Today's "announcement does not change the realities," said Matt Lee-Ashley, a spokesman for Salazar. "While the administration can finalize its draft rules, it is premature to move forward with a full commercial leasing program."
Bureau of Land Management spokesman Matt Spangler said Tuesday's proposal does not conflict with Salazar's provision.
President Bush, in an energy speech last month, called for lifting restrictions on oil shale leasing in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
"For many years, the high cost of extracting oil from shale exceeded the benefit. But today the calculus is changing," Bush said.
"Companies have invested in technology to make oil shale production more affordable and efficient. And while the cost of extracting oil from shale is still more than the cost of traditional production, it is also less than the current market price of oil. This makes oil shale a highly promising resource," he said.
Salazar responded by saying that "the reality about oil shale (is that) it's hydrocarbons locked up in rock and it is very difficult to extract."
****Article continues, click link to read**** Administration's proposed rules renew environmental, technology debate ... more -
T. Boone Pickens on oil
T. Boone Pickens is supporting a new plan to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.
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Where is Muqtada al Sadr?
Sabah al-Nasseri: Sadr may be weaker militarily, but he will still be a force in the elections (2/5)
Sabah al-Nasseri: "Sadr is in Iran, but politically, he's all over the place in Iraq."
Born in Basra, Iraq, Sabah al Nasseri is Professor of Political Science (Middle East Politics) at York University, Toronto. Prior to that he was a Lecturer of Political Science at the J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt. Currently he is working on an article, “Understanding Iraq.” Sabah al-Nasseri: Sadr may be weaker militarily, but he will still be a force in the elections (2/5) ... more -
When Chadians stay poor despite oil
Everyday, $40,000 US dollars in oil is pumped out of Chadian farmer Richard Betalum's land, with only 5 percent invested back into public infrastructure.
Oil breeds greed and both oil corporations and governments don't give a damn about the people. Everyday, $40,000 US dollars in oil is pumped out of Chadian farmer Richard Betalum's land, with only 5 percent invested back into pub... more -
Hemp Revolution part 1 of 2
This documentary covers a whole lot of ground. It deals with every historical and contemporary aspect of hemp usage and cultivation (mainly in the U.S.), which turns out to be a lot. From describing the production of a fibre much more durable and economic than wood, the documentary discusses hemps multilateral uses as e.g. food products, as a non-polluting fuel and as a pharmaceutical product with much less griveous sideeffects than chemical pharmaceutical products. The film also investigates why America went from a country which produced vast quantities of the non-narcotic industrial hemp, to the complete ban on hemp production in 1938. This story in particular is interesting, and it points out that the large oilbased industries actually had a key role in the aforementioned ban. Food for thought! The conclusion of the documentary could be that hemp may prove to be a valid alternative to both oil and wood in the future. This documentary covers a whole lot of ground. It deals with every historical and contemporary aspect of hemp usage and cultivation (m... more
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Oil prices steady as storm fades
Oil prices have today levelled off at around $131 a barrel, after reports that Tropical Storm Dolly does not have the power to disrupt drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Europe's biggest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, had said earlier that it would be evacuating its rig workers in the west of the area, but does not expect its prodiction to be affected by the storm.
However, oil prices are expected to continue to rise steadily, with the September contract price already at $131.86 a barrel. Oil prices have today levelled off at around $131 a barrel, after reports that Tropical Storm Dolly does not have the power to disrupt... more -
Cheaper Gas Websites
The cost of gas is out of control with no relief in sight. What is a consumer to do? Here are some cheap gas websites that are supposed to take some of the pain out of the pump. The cost of gas is out of control with no relief in sight. What is a consumer to do? Here are some cheap gas websites that are suppose... more
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On energy, T. Boone Pickens sees bipartisan fault
When T. Boone Pickens discusses energy policy with Democrats and Republicans this week, neither side may like all that they hear.
With average gasoline prices above $4 a gallon, energy issues have come to dominate the legislative debate this summer and both parties have sought the counsel of the oilman/investment whiz/wind power promoter.
What does Pickens, a geologist before he was a billionaire, think of the debate?
“There’s nothing they are saying that is going to solve the problem,” he told The Hill.
For example, Pickens doesn’t expect much oil to be found off the coasts. That would seem to undercut the Republican push to open the areas to drilling.
“The public thinks, ‘Well, God. If we got 86 billion barrels of oil sitting out there, why don’t we go drill it and produce it and lower the price of gasoline to $2?’ That’s kind of the way it’s been characterized. Which I think is totally misleading,” he said (editor’s note: A transcription of the interview will appear in the Business & Lobbying section of Tuesday’s edition of The Hill).
That should bolster Democratic leaders who are resisting pressure to drill, although Pickens does support conducting seismic studies to get a better handle on potential resources.
What about Democratic efforts to rein in “speculation,” a push that Democrats in both the House and Senate may make this week?
Pickens doesn’t think much of that idea, either.
“It’s a waste of time. Doesn’t have anything to do with it. … Everybody tries to place the blame, and the blame is our own lack of leadership over the past 40 years on energy.”
Pickens’s main mission in Washington this week is to promote the Pickens Plan (www.pickensplan.com.), his effort to use natural gas as a transportation fuel instead of as a source of electricity.
Wind power would replace the natural gas on the grid. And natural gas would replace gasoline, saving the country $700 billion over 10 years that would otherwise go to buy foreign oil, he said.
When T. Boone Pickens discusses energy policy with Democrats and Republicans this week, neither side may like all that they hear. ... more -
The Plan To Get Away From Oil
America is addicted to foreign oil.
It's an addiction that threatens our economy, our environment and our national security. It touches every part of our daily lives and ties our hands as a nation and a people.
The addiction has worsened for decades and now it's reached a point of crisis.
Click link to read on and join the cause America is addicted to foreign oil. ... more -
American Idle
Not long ago, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, arrived at work on Capitol Hill to find a line of SUVs waiting to pick up their passengers.
Firing off a letter to President Bush, Grassley wrote that with $4 gas, it’s unconscionable that “each and every day, there are likely dozens, if not hundreds of federal government SUVs and sedans idling for hours in Washington alone while waiting for their passengers.”
The letter got some attention, mostly for its down-home
worries in the midst of a sprawling national energy debate. But idling is no small matter, government and public health groups say.
A billion gallons of diesel fuel are burned every year by idling long-haul trucks and locomotives, pushing 11 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
That doesn’t even count public buses, school buses and millions of cars across the country.
Increasingly, though, it appears some states and localities see engine idling as an area in need of closer inspection:
-- Officials in Elk Grove Village, Ill., just began studying the creation of a no-idling zone.
-- The Minneapolis City Council approved an ordinance last month limiting idling to three minutes.
-- A Massachusetts town also is sending the message that idlers need to move on, according to a report in the Boston Globe.
In the Quad-Cities, idlers still can safely leave their engines on. None of this area’s major cities have laws against idling.
Still, some local governments say they’re trying to keep idling to a minimum.
In Davenport, school bus drivers can’t idle for more than five minutes, says Scott Martin, the director of operations for the city’s school district.
“It’s continually stressed. We want to be good stewards of the environment and fuel,” Martin said.
John Campbell, director of operations for the Bettendorf School District, says it has a policy aimed at limiting engine idling, too.
Mostly, it’s the trucking industry that’s had to deal with idling.
Long-haul drivers faced with mandatory rest periods often leave their trucks running while sleeping or resting inside.
It’s a costly practice.
The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates idling costs the trucking industry $2.5 billion a year.
Some states have tried to stop it, too.
Ten states have passed anti-idling laws, the conference of state legislatures says, and local government in another 20 states regulate the practice.
The laws are a patchwork of requirements that can bedevil drivers. Not long ago, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, arrived at work on Capitol Hill to find a line of SUVs waiting to pick up their passen... more -
Climate report calls for leaders with vision
The world needs leaders with the vision to forge New Deal-type policies to tackle the potentially disastrous combination of climate change, high inflation and economic slowdown, a British think-tank said on Monday.
"A New Green Deal", a report issued by the New Economics Foundation, uses the convergence of the credit crunch, climate change and booming food and fuel prices to make the case for a new economics for the 21st century.
Key points in the report are that every home must generate its own power, an oil legacy fund must be set up using windfall taxes on oil and gas firms to help pay for green transformation, and carbon should be priced according to its climate impact.
Interest rates should be cut to help investment in green energy and transport infrastructure, and monolithic financial institutions should be broken up so the failure of one would not destabilize the economy, said the NEF, an independent group.
"A credit crisis, coupled with high and rising oil prices and long-term climatic upheaval, are conspiring to create the perfect storm," said NEF director Andrew Simms.
"Instead of desperate baling-out, we need a comprehensive plan and a new course to navigate each obstacle in this new phenomenon.
"We need a modern Green New Deal that has the scale, boldness and vision previously only seen, for example, in Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression," he added.
"The credit, climate and oil crunches are all individually serious issues, but in combination their impact could be catastrophic for our economy, and for our way of life," said Tony Juniper, co-author of the report and former head of the environmental group Friends of the Earth.
"We need real leadership and vision to get through this, and right now we are not seeing it. Politicians from across the spectrum should signal their willingness to think differently and to embrace new ideas," he added. The world needs leaders with the vision to forge New Deal-type policies to tackle the potentially disastrous combination of climate ch... more -
Not So Happy Feet In Brazil
Thousands of dead penguins have been washing ashore Brazil's Rio De Janeiro beaches...
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Timeline of the US Human Lab Rat Experiments....
You will have to have a look at the article yourself and see what you think/feel, I haven't finished reading it and I haven't seen any references so far, but I believe it.
It began, in the US at any rate, with the chicken-pox blankets.
My brother-in-law has signed up to join the army and he knows about the government, he even knows about vaccines. He doesn't vaccinate his kids, but has just joined the army...I can't figure it out.
People are strange. You will have to have a look at the article yourself and see what you think/feel, I haven't finished reading it and I haven't seen any... more -
The geo-politics of oil
Aijaz Ahmad: What would a rational American foreign policy look like? Part 6
Based in New Delhi, Aijaz Ahmad is The Real News Network's Senior News Analyst; Senior Editorial Consultant, and political commentator for the Indian newsmagazine, Frontline. He has taught Political Science, and has written widely on South Asia and the Middle East. Aijaz Ahmad: What would a rational American foreign policy look like? Part 6 ... more -
Oil Prices Tumble In Biggest Weekly Drop Ever
The price of oil recorded its biggest weekly drop ever, and a gallon of gas finally pulled back from its record high. So is it time to declare the energy bubble popped?
Experts won't go that far just yet.
''It's too early to say we've seen the worst of it,'' said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. ''We would be Pollyannish if we believe one week represents a trend.''
Still, with oil recording yet another drop on Friday, some industry experts who just days ago thought there was more juice left in oil's meteoric run are reconsidering.
''If this is not the bubble's implosion, than it's a reasonable facsimile,'' analyst and trader Stephen Schork said in his daily market commentary. ''Time will tell. Nevertheless, for the time being we no longer care to hold a bullish view.''
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 41 cents Friday to settle at $128.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange -- well below its trading record of more than $147 a week earlier.
The average price of a gallon of regular gas fell about a penny for the day, to $4.105, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. Diesel prices dipped three-tenths of a cent to $4.842 a gallon.
Some analysts said a nationwide average of $4 or even lower could be in the offing -- almost unthinkable in a summer when there has seemed to be no relief at the pump -- although they cautioned that there is no guarantee prices will stay low. The price of oil recorded its biggest weekly drop ever, and a gallon of gas finally pulled back from its record high. So is it time to... more -
Greens Not to Blame
De Lamar Gibbons blames environmentalists for "stifling our nuclear energy development," blocking drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and foolishly making ethanol and oil from corn and sunflower seeds (Readers' Forum, July 17).
No new nuclear power plants have been built since 1973, primarily due to costs (approximately $4 billion per plant), fear of a meltdown, concern about increased cancer rates of people living in the vicinity of a reactor and the 1 billion gallons of water needed annually for a plant.
Henry Ford designed the "Model T" expecting it would run on ethanol made from renewable biological materials. Then along came gasoline. Search the Web for his hemp car, made from hemp fiber, which ran on ethanol made from hemp. Hemp is an annually renewable plant.
Patsy Washburn
Salt Lake City De Lamar Gibbons blames environmentalists for "stifling our nuclear energy development," blocking drilling for oil in the Arctic Natio... more -
Sex, blood and baby names: U.S. mad for free gas
Some U.S. motorists sick of getting clobbered at the pump seem willing to do just about anything for free fuel, from giving up the right to name their children to stealing from day-care centers to donating blood.
In Orlando, Florida, David Partin pledged to name his son after local radio hosts to win a $100 gas card as part of a contest. Partin will collect the card in December, when his son is born, if he can produce a birth certificate proving the baby is named Dixon Willoughby Partin, after the hosts.
"(His wife said) this is his problem to explain when the child is older," Greg Stevens, WHTQ-FM program director told Reuters.
At the Shady Lady Ranch brothel in Beatty, Nevada, clients who spend $300 or more this month will receive $50 gas vouchers as part of a promotion to beat the summer slump in business.
"It's rocking along. We're doing quite well. June and July historically are not big months," said James Davis, who co-owns the ranch with his wife, Bobbi.
The first $1,000 in gas cards were given out within a week, he added.
Some U.S. motorists sick of getting clobbered at the pump seem willing to do just about anything for free fuel, from giving up the rig... more -
New Hampshire To Accept Free Oil From Chavez
CONCORD, N.H. — Two years ago, New Hampshire refused to accept heating oil from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the pro-Castro U.S. critic who once called President Bush "the devil." But with fuel prices rising, well, free oil is free oil.
With the state's blessing, New Hampshire residents will be receiving some of the fuel this winter.
Booo hoo N.H or should we all consider this! CONCORD, N.H. — Two years ago, New Hampshire refused to accept heating oil from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the pro-Castro U.S. ... more
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