The disgusting jockeying for political gain from the cluster f**k in the Gulf is merely further evidence that our political system simply cannot rise to this, or any other, challenge. "BP has a history of safety violations". (No Sh*t and WTF??!!) Of course they do! They have 140,000 full time employees that work with explosive, corrosive, flammable, combustable, etc.. materials. Does anybody really think that with all of those people and all of those moving parts there won't be any accidents/incidents? 30,000 to 40,000 Americans die on our highways each year, and another 250,000 experience catastrophic, life changing permanent injuries as a result of the USAGE of gasoline and diesel fuel... Where is the outrage about that?! It doesn't exist because there is little to no political gain to be had in addressing that.
Rational thought simply cannot withstand the MSM's endless propaganda. There is NO PERFECTLY SAFE WAY TO DRILL FOR OIL, especially deep deposits in very deep water. There is NO PERFECTLY SAFE WAY TO LAUNCH SPACE ROCKETS, either. BTW, I don't hear anybody trying to shut down AIR TRAVEL (or rail travel) every time a commercial passenger jet crash (or train crash) kills a couple hundred people.
Why not?
Because we ACCEPT this costs/risks as the cost of being alive and LIVING. So what's up in the GOM? Politics! The same lame-brains that will lament the loss of wildlife in this incident are more than complicit by driving their gasoline powered vehicle to a protest... killing a couple of animals on the road there.
I really think that drilling in deep water for very deep deposits is a bad idea. A REALLY bad idea (imagine that...a pro-Life, registered Republican thinks offshore drilling is not worth its consequences...). I am willing to endure the consequences of NOT DRILLING in those places. But if WE DO DRILL, let us not delude ourselves into thinking that ACCIDENTS/ERRORS IN HUMAN JUDGMENT will not occur.
They will.
Think about that when somebody proposes Nuclear as the alternative... and whenever you see some Leftie nit-wit climb behind the wheal of his/her hybrid gasoline/coal powered animal killing machine on their way to protest BP/Exxon/Chevron et al for destroying the environment and killing those poor sea birds...
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I hade someone in the comments ask me what I thought about Buffet et al, and MMT (Modern Monetary Theory).
I have a great many thoughts on the issue, and I will be covering them in the very near future in great detail. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept here is a link that will get you started and will link you to several other sites should you wish to participate in the discussion.
If you don't wish to spend the time, here is a hint as to what I think about the odds for success of MMT in the Peak Oil era: I bought a family farm and have provisioned it with diverse livestock, large gardens, tools, weapons, stored food, fuel... this is not to say that I am am certain of ANY outcome, only that the probability for systemic trouble is high enough to motivate me to do this. I also have Life Insurance even though I have enjoyed robust health all of my life. I also contributed to my self-employed 401k last year should the system NOT fail.
I deal in probability theory - not "certainty theory" (as if there was such a thing). Those pretending to deal in "certainty" are likely not in touch with "reality". "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy." - Sun Tzu
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The rate of decline of imports of Oil into the U.S. remains within the limits projected by ELM and other models. We are 1/3 through 2010, and imports are down 7% for the year to date period from last year's year to date period.
Obama, like every other U.S. president of the post U.S. peak of oil production era (1970), clearly intends to kick the can down the road, rather than tackle the greatest issue to face America since WWII. To me, he has abdicated his shot at becoming a great President.
Read the dates as to when fuel efficiency will happen. LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!! Yee HAA!
Sorry, that got away from me...
Oil imports in the later part of this decade will be sparse, deep water drilling may or may not be happening. We will be driving a great deal less, and the whole "Food delivery by truck model" will be challenged in the extreme. It is nice that the administration is recognizing that over the road trucking consumes 20% of transport fuel... that percentage will RISE, not fall, as the total availability of transport fuels continues to fall - irrespective of the "fuel efficiency" mandates. The only mandate that will work is mandating rail rather than road. The physic's of moving a 40,000 pound vehicle across country on rubber wheels engaging in friction with an asphalt surface and wind resistance will NOT be impressed by mandates...
We will get through this, but we won't be needing Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers at some point. Not to worry, the market will bring you great incentive to eat less.
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Enjoy the Nat Gas glut of 2010. If the GOM disaster means anything, it means the end of that.