Dude Where’s My Gas?

It’s not that bad yet boys and girls…but it’s getting there. That is the price some cities in the U.S. will see if oil hits $200 a barrel and we are just one hurricane away from $175 easy, $200 if the refineries can’t get back online fast enough. Can you imagine paying over $6 for a gallon of gas? That is insanity! Problem is, there is no short term answer. But the sucky part is, this wasn’t a short term question. We have known this was going to happen for thirty years. Did we think the price was going to go down forever? Good job all you flower power hippies…really dropped the ball on this one!

What’s the short term fix? Improve My Gas Mileage!

Improving gas mileage is the only short term fix available. We are years away from any other viable option. There isn’t a new refinery in sight and it looks like the caribou are still wining the PR war over Alaska. The Transportation Department announced new fuel economy standards in April. Under the proposal, automakers would have to achieve an average fuel-efficiency standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The proposal would also set each automaker’s car fleet to achieve an average of 35.7 mpg by the 2015 model year. Light trucks, which include pickups, SUV’s and minivans, would have to meet a 28.6 mpg average by 2015. That’s almost 15 miles a gallon more than my SUV gets now which is great. But there’s trouble afoot!

SLANT DRILLING

There are reports circulating that Chinese firms are planning to slant drill off the Cuban coast near the Florida Straits, tapping into U.S. oil reserves that are estimated at 4.6 billion to 9.3 billion barrels. This compares with 4 billion to 10 billion barrels believed to be beneath the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, where drilling is held up in Congress due to the objections of environmental groups which warn of endangering caribou. Permission to drill in the refuge, which experts are certain will not present any environmental hazard, has failed by just two votes in the Senate.

China is eager to tap into oil reserves in the Florida Straits and then make a deal with Castro to control it. The Chinese have already reopened an abandoned Russian oil refinery in Cuba. Much of the gas refined there is believed to be destined for Freeport in the Bahamas, where the Chinese, through front company Hutchinson-Whampoa, has developed a massive port facility and airfield. With the refinery reopened and expanded it will also meet the needs of Castro.

Problem is….

Chinese drilling could be even more of an environmental hazard since China is not as concerned about or equipped to deal with any potential ecological disaster as a result of a spill.

So, as much as I would like to make this a business rant, there isn’t much business being done these days with the economy tanking, so I cast my rants in the direction of the people who brought us this abortion. The Senators who voted against drilling in Alaska:

DEMOCRATS

Baucus, Mont.
Bayh, Ind.
Biden, Del.
Bingaman, N.M.
Boxer, Calif.
Byrd, W.Va.
Cantwell, Wash.
Carper, Del.
Clinton, N.Y.
Conrad, N.D.
Corzine, N.J.
Daschle, S.D.
Dayton, Minn.
Dodd, Conn.
Dorgan, N.D.
Durbin, Ill.
Edwards, N.C.
Feingold, Wis.
Feinstein, Calif.
Graham, Fla.
Harkin, Iowa
Hollings, S.C.
Johnson, S.D.
Kennedy, Mass.
Kerry, Mass.
Kohl, Wis.
Lautenberg, N.J.
Leahy, Vt.
Levin, Mich.
Lieberman, Conn.
Lincoln, Ark.
Mikulski, Md.
Murray, Wash.
Nelson, Fla.
Nelson, Neb.
Pryor, Ark.
Reed, R.I.
Reid, Nev.
Rockefeller, W.Va.
Sarbanes, Md.
Schumer, N.Y.
Stabenow, Mich.
Wyden, Ore.

Republicans

Chafee, R.I.
Coleman, Minn.
Collins, Me.
DeWine, Ohio
Fitzgerald, Ill.
McCain, Ariz.
Smith, Ore.
Snowe, Me.

These people (earning at least $168,000 a year mind you) will most likely be responsible for making sure China is pumping oil off the coast of Florida while we still debate the effects for the next ten years. Can you say international crisis ninety miles off the Florida coast….again?

All this could have been avoided if they would have just delivered on the one promise I remember from back in the 50’s….My very own jet pack!