Oil Prices--why not conservation?

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I don’t know about others, but I try to conserve as much as possible. I have set my thermostat at 80 for my air conditioning - and I will not apolgize for having it. We have significantly cut down the amount of driving this year. Last year we drove to Rehoboth Beach, Washington, DC and Niagara Falls. Not this year - we stayed home.

We have replaced almost all of the incandescent light bulbs in the house with flourescent bulbs. A seven watt flourescent bulb generates more light than a 60 watt incandescent bulb. In winter, I set my thermostat at 68 and left it there.

I have an SUV - a paid for 99 Explorer with a six cylinder engine and a 5 speed.
I get a little better than 20 MPG in the highway. We plan our shopping trips to buy all that we need on one trip.

As for oil - Bush first proposed an energy bill back in 2001 that included more exploration and development of our own energy reserves, and the Democrats fought it with their usualy hyperbole.
There is oil under the Gulf of Mexico, but the state of Florida doesn’t want any drilling near its coast. There is oil in ANWR but the Dems scream bloody murder when anyone talks of drilling there. There is a vast quantity of clean burning coal in Utah that Clinton put off-limits. There is also oil off the
California coast.

Nukes - build more of them! Geez, France gets most of its electric power from nukes. Nevada has been whining about the storage of spent nuclear fuel in Yucca Mountain.

Underneath western Pennsylvania lies about 276 years worth of bituminous coal for power generation.

Brazil continues to develop alcohol, refined from sugar cane as an alternate energy source. The Brazilian climate is well suited for sugar cane and distillation of it.

I do not agree with all that Bush wants or has done. What is amazing to me is the continuing notion that Bush has done nothing about oil demand or prices and only cares about his oil buddies.

When dictator-in-fact Hugo chavez took over Venezuela in 1998, oil was $10 a barrel. Venezuela is one of the leading oil exporters to the US, along with Canada and Mexico. Chavez openly rants about the United States, in typical leftist Latin American fashion, and had worked to raise the price of oil to its current levels.

People should take some time to realize what is going on around them instead of just pointing a finger at -
Bush
wasteful Americans
air conditioning
etc.

The American economy is the largest and most productive in the world. It will consume the most energy. As China and India grow so will their energy demands.
 
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TPJCatholic:
vern,

AC is not what I am talking about. In fact, I feel that food, clothes, water, shelter, medical care, and even some level of comfort like heat and AC should be available to every person on the planet. There are enough resources for everyone to enjoy basci needs and comforts in life.
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I thought we were talking about conservation?

Air conditioning is not a necessity of life – most people on this planet don’t have it. It IS a huge consumer of energy.

Now, look at the title of the thread: “Oil Prices–why not conservation?”

The answer to that question is, “Because even people who claim to support conservation are not willing to do anything that would make them uncomfortable.”
 
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TPJCatholic:
gilliam,

I would sayh with prices approaching $3 per gallon, with no end in sight, we should be looking at all alternatives to foreign oil.

One has to wonder if we would be battling terror if it was not for our national interest in oil (no I do not believe Bush went to war for oil).
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It’s $5 and $6 a gallon in Europe, but you don’t see a big push for alternative fuels. What you do see is an increase in mass transit and a lifestyle adjustment. For example, you don’t drive two miles to the big box grocery store…you walk down to the corner market to pick up the ingedients you need for that evening’s dinner.

If you want cheap gas…move to Venezuella where gas sells for only 12 cents per gallon. 🙂
 
JW,

If your comments are meant for me, use my name. Don’t be bashful…🙂
 
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TPJCatholic:
vern,

I take it your latest tirade was aimed at me? 🙂
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No, not at all. I’m just pointing out why we can’t conserve. We’re too unwilling to lower our comfort standards.
 
I think it is a bit nuts to say its a sin to drive an SUV, thats going a bit to far in my book. If you have a large family then a minivan can be a good thing, so it depends on the situation.
 
Maybe this is what we should all be asking for:

11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=67938

It’s working in Floyd County, Georgia; why not everywhere? With all the chickens we eat in this country, there should be plenty of raw material (just don’t tell PETA about it. 😉 ) It looks like the biodiesel costs as much as regular gasoline, but that might not be the case if the price of gasoline goes up more.

I wonder, if every vehicle was powered this way, would our highways have a barbecue-like aroma? 😃

**Crazy Internet Junkies Society
**Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
 
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CarolAnnSFO:
Maybe this is what we should all be asking for:

11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=67938

It’s working in Floyd County, Georgia; why not everywhere? With all the chickens we eat in this country, there should be plenty of raw material (just don’t tell PETA about it. 😉 ) It looks like the biodiesel costs as much as regular gasoline, but that might not be the case if the price of gasoline goes up more.

I wonder, if every vehicle was powered this way, would our highways have a barbecue-like aroma? 😃

Crazy Internet Junkies Society
Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
Click to expand...
We need a serious effort to go to bio-diesel. I have a couple of companies claiming they can produce bio-diesel for $1.65 a gallon (plus transportation and taxes.) Here’s what we need:
  1. Conversion of agricultural effort. Right now we pay literally billions of dollars to subsidize rice – which is in huge oversupply. We need to stop that and encourage farmers to grow what we need – oil-producing crops like soy beans, peanuts, corn, and so on. One side benefit will be they can sell all they grow on the open market, so subsidies won’t be needed.
  2. Put more land into use. We now pay farmers to NOT grow crops and put their land into the Crop Reserve Program (CRP.) Let’s stop that, while encouraging them to grow crops like those listed above.
  3. Develop strains of crops that produce higher percentages of oil. This will be easy, since the oil doesn’t have to taste good.
  4. Drop the silly regulations that assume ALL vegetable oil is supposed to be eaten (these regulations drive up the price.)
  5. Provide appropriate incentives to build plants to produce bio-diesel where it’s needed, and reduce transportation costs.
  6. Use those agricultural by-products we now waste to add to the oil production bio-mass.
 
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