Pete, please note that I made arguments from both sides of the fence. Remember, I'm a moderate. We won't rely on oil forever. Guranteed. And somehow I doubt the world will end before the alternative is discovered. If you're not contributing to a solution, you're nothing more than part of the problem. Quit your bitching, and do something meaningful.
When we import over 60% of our daily oil consumption from the Middle East ---
I heard on Nightline the other night that we actually use very, very litle Mideast oil in the states. I dont recall the exact number but it was way less than 20% of our oil. the reason we defend it is because our allies in Europe depend heavily on it. Thats just what I heard-dont shoot the messenger
At any rate, Sal is on the money. This great country is going to be on a world of hurt if we dont wake up and smell the stink of growth that has brought us much to be thankful for, but has become an unsustainable disease.
In the year 2000, we imported a total of 53% of our consumed oil. 23% of it came from OPEC countries. The remainder came from Non-OPEC countries including Russia, Mexico, Canada Nigeria and many others. In the last two years with the growing economy, this import number has increased.
Check out the year 2000 numbers at:
www.eia.doe.gov/neic/quickfacts/quickoil.html
Information is power......
It looks like on average over the past few decades, that the Nightline figures were pretty close. Nowhere do I see 60%, or even over 25% of our imports coming from the Mideast. Makes you wonder what exactly we're protecting, doesnt it?
There are no simple answers :
eg Hydrogen when burnt becomes water = a great greenhouse gas = global warming. And where do you get the energy from to break down water to get hydrogen in the first place?
Some species have thrived around the Alaska pipeline some hate it.
etc etc
But if it is not easy to know the answers it is easy to know the questions eg Pete Andrews list. My list starts with 'Do I want my children and grandchildren to have as good a world to live in as i have?'
What has this got to do with LF ? I'd like landscapes of the future to be as good as the present ones.
BTW, I love you guys!
ok ! ok ! the environment is a subject I get emotional about. But when you think that in a few decades we could change the whole world's climate and get rising sea levels, more frequent and more powerful storms, more frequent el nino events, droughts, floods etc then perhaps that is not a bad thing.
ok ! ok ! the environment is a subject I get emotional about. But when you think that in a few decades we could change the whole world's climate and get rising sea levels, more frequent and more powerful storms, more frequent droughts, floods etc then perhaps that is not a bad thing.
I don?t own a car ? I walk and ride my bicycle to get where I need to go, so I have no concern if gas is $.10 or $10 a gallon.
I was expecting a discussion of LF photography issues when I stumbled onto this thread. How on earth did we hit upon this topic?
Knowing full well that drilling in the arctic refuge is not a complete solution to our energy problems, I'm still all for drilling there. I hope President Bush will skirt congress and pull something along the lines of an executive order to get the job done.
Drilling in the arctic does not mean automatic enviornmental ruin as greanpeace, and the sierra club et al would have you believe. Since the Alaskan pipeline has been in place, the caribou population has continued to flourish. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if their population is sufficient enough that the caribou farts start to contribute to the much overblown "greenhouse effect."
Relax Colin, pop open a tall cold one and enjoy life a little. The enviornment isn't going to change all over the world, just because we drill in Alaska. The climate hasn't been studied long enough to tell if a trend towards global warming even exists. Even if it did exist, is global warming aactually a bad thing? Is industrialized man to blame, or is it a naturally occuring event? I understand that the polar ice caps on Mars are melting too. I didn't know Mars had SUV's, factories or conservatives to cause global warming there. Do you think it might be the sun that is causing the warming? Na, guess that would be to obvious.
The USA has a strong economy, in spite of the nay-sayers, and we will continue to need new sources of energy to fuel our growing economy and population. Natural gas (other than Sals'), alternative fuels, and conservation all play a part in the energy picture; but for the short term, we need more oil, refineries, and power plants. Without more power plants spewing out tons of coal emisions, how will we ever power those tiny little electric cars? In the long term we definately need to look into other sources of energy, as well as superconductor technology to cut energy loss in power lines, and hydroelectric needs to be exploited more.
Those of you who either don't care or actually want $5.00/gal plus fuel prices, ARE YOU INSANE?! All levels of the economy will be adversely effected, even yours Sal. There are a lot of very decent, hard working people out there who would sufer from these high prices. Even those who drive the little rice burning 40mpg cars will sufer from hyper-inflation. Be careful of what you wish for!
Sal: I want to sincerely thank you for not having any children. I can sleep easy knowing that the gene pool is safe for yet another day :-)
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