BTW- I am about to hop into a C5 Corvette, pull out the Targa roof and take a drive up the Coast Highway. I feel quite virtuous, in that the C5 will get about 28MPG on the Highway and a remarkable 21 just putting around La Costa, CA.

Seriously, I have not issue with using gasoline. At $3.29 I am aware of not wasting it, as this is some expensive stuff. And, I can count on the price varying quite a bit, just like it has all my life.

Let the Good Times roll!

If gas were up to 4 bucks a gallon, i'm sure alot of people including myself wouldn't care. I'd still buy it, the higher the better. i want all suvs and big a$$ pickup trucks to be sold. not only do they get in the way but dirty the air. this is the best thing to happen to america in a long long time, the very best thing to happen is the strict emmissions test coming to effect next month. that will keep all the stinkers off the road as well.

Hi Bruce - Actually I was attempting to be a little ironic in referencing Carter. I cited his speach because he had the balls - or temerity, if you will - to ask Americans to sacrifice.

I understand. I really like Jimmy as a man but boy did we suffer when he was our leader.

I think sacrifice is fine in the right context. I do it myself from time to time just to keep in practice!!!!!!

:cheers:

Gloves are off and smoking
 

The country has been without an Energy Plan since the Arab embargo's fo the 70's that is the fact. Reasons largely determined by the environmental attitudes of conserving everything pristine and not in my backyard so on and so forth. Here we are over 30 yrs later in the same boat in which we are being price gouge now if there is storm in the ocean! Is there any politician going to go and want more refinaries built or breeder reactors, I don't think so they have no cojones!
As far as the unions and competition there is not an even fight. Japanese car builders have a huge dollar advantage over american costs of production. Therefore either quotas which I dont like but if you levy a big tariff make them more expensive as they do in Japan that should level the field. This open market pollicy we have here is going to destroy every work sector of this country. I called to ask for an additional card from JC Penney I ended up in India! You mean to tell me that there no Americans capable of answering phones now? Yet, Palm, HP and a bunch of other companies have outsource the work abroad. Goods like shirts, pants,sneakers and dresses are all made in third world countries with no child labor laws exists, no OSHA, no EPA more important no wishy washy politicians. Tariff them to death as far as I am concerned look what at happened to Van Heusen, Hathaway, all brands of American shirt makers there all gone. In a few years all of us will be paper shufflers. The per capita income of this country is going down the tubes for because of this. I find globalization a fancy word of taking the US to the third world status. We sit on the biggest deposit of coal in the world lets use it come up with the technology to liquify the coal as cost effective as possible! If this is just mentioned as a plan you will see plummeting energy costs. We have let them strangle us we are the ones that are stupid. I dont see any arab saying no to more petrodollars.

You have mixed many issues together here. However, I would agree with you that our national energy policy (which is really a collection of hundreds of individual actions, laws, regs etc.) is ineffectual at best.


Moreover, in spite of rising prices of many energy sources, many impediments exist for lowering the cost of energy accessed and used.

A friend who has the experience to talk, spoke to me about the costs and time to build a nuclear power plant. It seems that on average it takes 15 yrs, only 4 of which is the actual building of the plant. The 11 is for the lawyers and interest groups to fight over.

Apparently over half the cost of building are soft costs to obtain approvals.

If this is true, it shows how ass backwards the process is.

Of course, I always blame the Greens and their lawyers. These folks have an agenda and I assure you it is not aligned with most of us. And as usual, the costs of this insane process is borne by the consumer, not the Greens.

Aye Carumba!

:cheers: