Comments on: Kicking the Oil Habit

By: Jerry Nora

Jerry Nora — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Ah, thanks for the enlightenment on the oil refinery bit. Perhaps as a stopgap, it may have uses. (Though we'll have to get past the NIMBY-factor with the communities surrounding said bases that may not want such a facility nearby.)

And there's nothing wrong with working on them. Like it or not, we need the stuff, and even if we don't burn it in cars, plastics, drugs, and innumerable other chemicals we take for granted are petroleum-based.

By: Steve N

Steve N — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Congratulations Jerry! You made me look up a word: palliate. Problem is when I did, I came away not understanding what you mean Do you mean "technologies that make our habits less severe"? If so, does that mean: change our habits? or keep our habits the same but less destructive?

I do agree, this problem (viz., dependence upon fossil fuels for cheap energy) is complex and must be fought on multiple fronts.

Cheers!

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I agree with you Eric. George Bush is incapable of leading new initiatives on energy because he's been entangled in the sticky nets of crude since birth.

He has the opportunity to make a Kennedyesque Moon-shot challenge to the energy industry… and really revolutionize our society. And, also, kick the terrorists in the junk at the same time.

By: Steve N

Steve N — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I'd still like to put a plug in for living closer to where we work, play, worship, and shop, and for pushing local authorities in their zoning decisions to create or preserve this possibility.

The age of cheap oil will, stop gap measures notwithstanding, eventually end. What then will be done with the unsustainable sprawl? We'll have suburban blight, I guess.

Cheers!

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I'm all for that as well, Steve, but we must work with what we have, and I welcome technologies that palliate our current habits. With issues this complex we need to attack the problem from multiple fronts.

By: EmilyE

EmilyE — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I'm dating a guy who works for an oil refinery (yes, yes, shame on me, but at least I drive a relatively fuel-efficient car ;-)). He says part of the problem with the oil market is that there are fewer oil refineries today (only 149 in the entire U.S.). He claims that if refining capacity were to be added, more crude oil could be refined and prices would go down.

I'm not sure what to think about that assertion, but I guess Bush believes it as well. It doesn't really solve the problem of dependence on foreign oil supplies — we'd just process more of the foreign crude.

By: Steve N

Steve N — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Or, even better: working, playing, worshiping, and shopping closer to where we live…

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Steve, what I mean is make them less severe so that we buy ourselves more breathing space for more permanent solutions, such as living closer to work etc. as you rightly pointed out.

Living closer to work makes a lot of sense, but school systems and crime often blackmail people into living further away. With renewal programs and gentrification making living in cities more sensible, perhaps that may now change, at least in some cities.

But at least with promoting hybrid technologies now, we are helping to show that green technology leads to more opportunities, not less. Also fostering such tech in our country will help us in exporting it to China, which is a huge potential market that is very interested in hybrids (can you imagine 1B people going for gas-guzzlers? Scary, no?). While Beijing's pollution record is worse than ours, if nothing else, they at least realize that hybrids will help keep crude oil prices from going through the ceiling, something that even enviro-skeptics can understand (hence why I think the free market is often underappreciated by green activists. While not perfect, it nonetheless can sometimes force people to acknowledge reality by pinching their pocketbooks.)

By: sibert

sibert — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Why does the fact that he is from an oil family preclude him from having ideas that might be helpful to our energy crisis? It might be useful to have people who know about energy help formulate our new energy policies. It is certainly going to be necessary to have the oil companies on board or at least not actively impeding us as we move forward. The reason is because no matter what we move to, there will have to be a transition, meaning that people who understand the old way of doing things must collaborate with the people who are leading the new way. If you just want to say Bush is an idiot, then say it. If you feel like you are smarter than him and all he wants is to line his own pockets or glory in his own power, please read the Repost: Mirror of Sin.