Who Do You Blame For The Current Oil State?

thegamerslink · 05-22-2008, 10:17 PM

Who is it you mostly blame for the current state of the oil/gas prices?

jabo · 05-23-2008, 12:16 AM

Environmentalists? How did they affect the gas prices???

thegamerslink · 05-23-2008, 12:29 AM

Environmental Lobyists have made it so that we are unable to drill for our own oil. In fact the U.S. is the only country in the world if I'm not mistaken that has crippled it's own ability to drill for oil or create it's own electricity using other methods such as Nuclear Power Plants, Clean Coal, Hydroelectricity, etc....and there's even been complaints from that side about the Windmill power fields that offers their desired clean electricity because it may harm some birds that fly into the blades. This has forced the U.S. to use an incredible amount of Oil for not just it's transportation needs but also conventional electricity for business and homes. And since we can't drill for our own in places we know it to be we are forced to purchase it from foreign entities that are also catering to the growing needs of other countries such as China and Indonesia causing an auction type pricing atmosphere if you will.

thegamerslink · 05-23-2008, 12:33 AM

Don't get me wrong though because the Greenies as I call them do serve their purpose. If they are heard by common sense people and some of what they have to say is heard. Then you get a motion towards alternate energy such as research and development of better solar energy, fuel cells for motorized vehicles etc. But if you let them go unchecked we end up where we are.

jabo · 05-23-2008, 12:33 AM

Then I don't think as a whole the environmentalist should be blamed. I mean once the oil price increases in the world market, every country is affected. Even those who have access to their oil...

thegamerslink · 05-23-2008, 01:03 AM

Actually this poll was sided towards the U.S. as that is where I'm at. And other countries do tend to blame the U.S. for the World's market so what we do or don't do here directly relates to what the rest of the world feels. It shouldn't be that way neccessarily but it is. If we were developing our own sources of oil while at the same time decreasing our use for things we shouldn't have to be using it for i.e. common electricity then the demand would drop on the world supply and the over all price then would drop along with it. And because of the environmentalists we haven't been able to build a new Refinery for over 30 years. That too makes it more difficult for us as a country to keep up with our own demand. Supply and Demand is the only reason for the current price. You add more supply and decrease the demand and the price drops immensely. If you start now something such as drilling in new areas, building a new refinery or building new nuclear plants even though it may take a number of years to make an actual physical difference the simple knowledge that it's happening will ease the market at least some immediately. Not to mention the new jobs that would be created at the same time even more so helping the economy.

John Scott · 05-23-2008, 03:32 AM

OPEC.

Zap · 05-23-2008, 05:51 AM

I think we're all to blame.
We all use the oil.
If we all stopped using it, the price would drop like a rock.
You can't raise prices on something nobody wants to buy.

thegamerslink · 05-23-2008, 11:41 AM

Come on Zap lets get real. You're going to stop using oil, in other words no heating or cooling for you house. No Electricity for any of the businesses or homes? Back to horse and buggy transportation...everyone has to live in a large city so they can use nothing but bicycle or public type transportation?

That's pretty much the situation that the environmental lobbyists have put us in since the 70's.

John Scott · 05-23-2008, 12:33 PM

It's price fixing by OPEC. It costs them $1 per barrel, and they charge whatever they want. If they charged $500 a barrel, they could still sell it, although many countries might see that as an act of war.

The fact that we are helplessly dependent on it isn't helping, of course, and the fact that they charge so much will probably help us in the long run by forcing us to wake up to the fact that oil is limited.

thegamerslink · 05-23-2008, 01:04 PM

I'm in no way going to defend OPEC and the way they do things. But I'd have to sway more towards the fact that places like China and Indonesia have increased their demand for oil not to mention other countries increasing their demand although not in such as vast way I believe China's call has increased in the area of 30+% over the last couple years and so has India and Indonesia. This has caused a bidding war for oil that has caused the market to increase exponentially.

So while OPEC is reaping the rewards it's the increased demand and competitive buying atmosphere causing the prices to skyrocket.

If you would allow for as I stated before oil to be drilled for here on U.S. territories as it should be and match that with development of other energy creation methods such as more nuclear plants and clean coal plants, then at the same time continue to develop alternate methods of power creation for both home/business use and new automotive technologies from hybrid vehicles getting 50-100mgp to hydrogen cell based to electrical cars etc etc etc...not only would this offer an immediate decrease in the market price by adding confidence to the market but would decrease the demand and increase the supply which common sense says lowers the prices, then after a decade or two of this type of action we'd actually be pretty close to off the need for fossil fuels most likely in this country.

snowbird · 05-23-2008, 01:10 PM

Everyone is to blame.

There is only so much oil and emerging markets will only add pressure to the demand in coming years.

If the cost of fuel is to be reduced, everyone will have to make some changes in order for it to happen. But that is unlikely, so the cost of fuel will continue to soar until the internal combustion engine is replaced.

thegamerslink · 05-23-2008, 01:19 PM

I need to make my post more clear I guess

jhuynh1026 · 05-23-2008, 04:08 PM

i think we are all to blame. cant really blame only one person for everyone's fault. since we all use it too. everyone should take some responsibility.

thegamerslink · 05-23-2008, 04:30 PM

Quote:

If we were developing our own sources of oil while at the same time decreasing our use for things we shouldn't have to be using it for i.e. common electricity then the demand would drop on the world supply and the over all price then would drop along with it. And because of the environmentalists we haven't been able to build a new Refinery for over 30 years. That too makes it more difficult for us as a country to keep up with our own demand. Supply and Demand is the only reason for the current price. You add more supply and decrease the demand and the price drops immensely.

Quote:

If you would allow for as I stated before oil to be drilled for here on U.S. territories as it should be and match that with development of other energy creation methods such as more nuclear plants and clean coal plants, then at the same time continue to develop alternate methods of power creation for both home/business use and new automotive technologies from hybrid vehicles getting 50-100mgp to hydrogen cell based to electrical cars etc etc etc...not only would this offer an immediate decrease in the market price by adding confidence to the market but would decrease the demand and increase the supply which common sense says lowers the prices, then after a decade or two of this type of action we'd actually be pretty close to off the need for fossil fuels most likely in this country.

I hate having to quote myself but I think they make a perfect point? And if so, who stands in the way primarily of our being able to follow these suggested courses?

p.s. Off the need of fossil fuels in this country means we'd have replaced our need to use fossil fuels for power by alternative methods entirely.