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Originally Posted by Perfectlap
oh but it tis OUR money.....
The capital expenditures for new drilling are being spent by Big Oil and passed directly to you and I. Where do you think that mun-ey is coming from?
Their billions in profits? Heck we can even get these guys to sell us a FULL gallon of gas fair and square when the dang temp is above 60F like in Canada and Europe!!! (they must be making a KILLING with that nonsense at $5 a gallon).
Sure we will get the taxes and money from the leases but the govt is going to spend it to get more tails on the public transportation, the roads that need to be repaired with more mass commuters and pay for this trillion dollar Iraq mess, and a bunch of other things that are falling apart around us.
All corporate investments geared at future growth are payed for us the consumers. Mor drilling in ANWR or offshore will mean higher gas prices in the short term with a possibility of no benefit in the long term when Asian oil consumption is up to 10 barrels per head. We could be footing the bill to fuel the very economies we compete against!
As far as the govt. getting out of the way...This is 2008. Globalization is here and we're competing against emerging nations whose govts play an active role in making sure their economies are FULLY fueled. When gas prices go up Americans stay home. When gas prices go up in Asia they buy more. Even if those govts scale back fuel subsidies the sheer volume in the increase of demmand will still ensure govt participation in layering additional demmand onto the price action.
Asia is only consuming a mere two barrels per person per year. I mean seriously 30,000 cars a day between India and China! We're not selling 30K of anything. There's an economic war going on today and we're sitting around pickin our noses. Those govts are sitting on Trillions in cash reserves. They're going to use it to make sure economic growth fights off a world wide economic downturn as best as they can. If we are to have a chance its all hands on deck, including the Fed Govt.
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The oil companies capital comes from three sources:
1-Sale of equity and debt
2-Past profits
3-Future profits.
No one is forced to buy gas from anyone. The same CAN"T be said for taxes.
If I park my car and ride the rails or my electric bike, I have a choice about gas. Not so much but some choice. Over time, more choices will be availble
Yes, the feds will piss away the money from the leases but they piss away everything they take from us, so nothing new there.
Good luck expecting our govt to get with the program. They never have, never will. People go homeless here in US and the feds send aid money all over the world, money that they don't have by the way. That is OUR money they are sending out of the country, money our children will have to repay.
So, having said all that, to me, markets still work better than any other govt solution. The US can open up the energy markets for exploration or they can simply cede this all to the rest of the world.
Of course, you can't have a wind farm near Senator Kennedy's summer home and oil wells where the Malbu barbies can see them. No oil from ANWAR and of course, the snall darter must be protected, so no coal digging in Montana.
What would you prefer? Energy sourced locally or from Iran?
Now, specific to hybrids and other good stuff, they will come anyway as the need is there. So too will new technologies. They are on the way and we will have many more options very very soon.
I am not worred about that, since it does not appear that the feds will get in the way of that.
But who knows?