Bad news! Oil just hit the $100. A while back I predicted it would hit $150 before Bush leaves office and I think it is heading in that direction. Oil hits $100 on supply concerns, Nigeria violence
The price of oil has nothing to do with Bush. Demand is increasing and there is limited supply of fossil fuels. Before using oil we were burniing whale oil and that ran out fast. People can start walking, take mass transit, insulate their homes, and purchase small fuel efficient cars that get 50 mpg. GM is planning to introduce a low cost high mileage car. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17878603/
Bogart, if you haven't seen, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" from Sony Pictures, you owe it to yourself to watch it. I'm happy we went to war in Iraq to defend "our oil". When we went, oil was $27 a barrell, and now it is $100. We have spent nearly a trillion dollars to triple the price of oil, and cut the Iraqi production levels in half. GREAT FOREIGN POLICY!
Sure, but wait, we can't blame Bush for our foreign policy now can we? After all he is only our president, its not like he is supposed to run the country or anything like that. Anything bad that has happened during his presidency we should not blame it on him, he is innocent and not responsible for ANYTHING that happens on his watch. We need to start blaming others for his mismanagement of government policies.
At this point, I think blame is irrelevant. Solutions are what we need. Not pandering and false promises. Quick story. Today I stopped at my local convenience store, run by a friend of mine. He asked me for a RP update and we got to talking about all of the candidates. I asked him, are Hillary, Barack, Rudy and Mitt really the best America has to offer? Are these supposed "front runners" really the best available choices? I asked him, "Who is Hillary Clinton? What has she done?" and he replied, "She's Bill's wife." As though that alone would be qualification for leader of the free world. Then I pointed out GWB. I asked him, if you had one job opening at the store, and GWB was a candidate, what are the odds you hire him? And my friend just laughed and said, zero. The lesson being, the hypocrisy in our politicians is a reflection of our own political ignorance or apathy. We get this level of crap, because we don't care. So until that changes, we are going to continue to get crap.
Well CNN is blaming it on the Chinese now... They always make a good scapegoat. I hope the Chinese take over the world. They seem nicer.
I beg to differ on that. Bush foreign policies towards Iran and Iraq contributed much to the Middle East tension and in way caused the rise in oil prices. Demand and supply does matter but uncertainty in supply drives up the prices. But there is also an advantage, rises in prices promotes demands and more research into alternative fuels, hopefully the world will wean itself out of its demand for oil.
I don't understand why China is always the scapegoat, when the Pentagon consumes more oil than 100 other countries. Natural resources and commodities are always scarce during wartime.
China uses a lot of oil, but it produces and the USA consumes, so you really can't blame China for it.
The US is one of the largest oil producers in the world and produces 7.61 million bbl/day. Consumption is increasing in India and China and supply is decreasing. In 1999 China was an exporter of oil and now they are one of the largest importers. In order to solve the problem, the US needs more nuclear, 50 mpg cars, wind power, and other alternative sources of energy.
Hmm, India should have planned for metro railway system for each big city atleast 10 years back. Not now when each and every young person is buying 2 wheeler, which is causing severe traffic jams. The whole outcome of this would lead to huge fuel consumption, air pollution and global warming. Being an Indian i say India is not a developing country, its still very much backward in terms of planning for future.
What/Who to blame? Answer: Ignorance and unwillingness to go for alternatives. - Well served when every Nation lets itself get enslaved by oil. Industries and lobbies are partly guilty. One week no gasoline use and you'll get it for a fraction of the price they are asking now. Unite!
Actually, Stephen Schork knows who is the guy to blame.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7169543.stm
He have not seen the worse of it yet. The US Economy is doomed! Come back and quote this post in 6-8months.
It's human nature. The same problem in the US. Not until recently did the US start a subway system in Los Angeles. The LA metro is still under construction but it's a start. Los Angeles is the worst in the US on dependence on cars and highways to move people. People are the voters and they are in general very shortsighted.
I guess its on the 3rd place and on the 1st place of consumers. I just searched google and was surprised that Russia overtook 1st place. I always thought its some Arabic country on the first place. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/IndustryInfo/story?id=2356757&page=1
The US uses a lot. I believe 50% is for heating. I'm thinking that most people in Russia live in apartments which are more economical to heat than large homes. There's probably more nuclear power in Russia also and people tend to drive small cars. That's really the biggest problem for the US. We use something like 25 million barrels per day.