Gas Prices

[jrmarlin]

The other day, in the time it took me to go exchange a movie at wal-mart, I come out and the Exxon on the corner went from $2.15 to $2.34 per gallon. In literally 15 minutes. What's up with this?

 

I mean hell's bells... The gas was the same gas as when I went into the store as when I came out. So how the hell did it go up almost twenty cents. Where is the sense in that?

 

It must've been the gas FAIREY! ACK!

[JGJ@ReligionisBullshit]

The other day, in the time it took me to go exchange a movie at wal-mart, I come out and the Exxon on the corner went from $2.15 to $2.34 per gallon. In literally 15 minutes. What's up with this?

 

I mean hell's bells... The gas was the same gas as when I went into the store as when I came out. So how the hell did it go up almost twenty cents. Where is the sense in that?

 

It must've been the gas FAIREY! ACK!

 

Demand my son, demand. Blame SUV drivers. The average fuel economy of an SUV is around 17 miles per gallon. The average commute in the US is 23 miles. Almost a gallon and a half a day. Think that doesn't hurt? 25-30% of cars in the US are SUV's. I would expect with summer around the corner, the heaviest travel time of the year, that gas prices will soar to at least 4 dollars a gallon. AT LEAST! Unless people start ditching SUV's I wouldn't look for a change in this phenomenon for at least 2 more years. Sales of SUV's are down 15 percent from the same period last year and I would expect that by the end of this summer, those who are still manufacturing and trying to sell SUV's will be up shite's creek. Look for the automakers to switch tactics and start producing larger cars that look like SUV's but are still smaller and more efficient.

 

Also, with the urbanization and industrialization boom going on in China, things can only get worse they will never get better with fossil fuels.

[jrmarlin]

The other day, in the time it took me to go exchange a movie at wal-mart, I come out and the Exxon on the corner went from $2.15 to $2.34 per gallon. In literally 15 minutes. What's up with this?

 

I mean hell's bells... The gas was the same gas as when I went into the store as when I came out. So how the hell did it go up almost twenty cents. Where is the sense in that?

 

It must've been the gas FAIREY! ACK!

 

Demand my son, demand. Blame SUV drivers. The average fuel economy of an SUV is around 17 miles per gallon. The average commute in the US is 23 miles. Almost a gallon and a half a day. Think that doesn't hurt? 25-30% of cars in the US are SUV's. I would expect with summer around the corner, the heaviest travel time of the year, that gas prices will soar to at least 4 dollars a gallon. AT LEAST! Unless people start ditching SUV's I wouldn't look for a change in this phenomenon for at least 2 more years. Sales of SUV's are down 15 percent from the same period last year and I would expect that by the end of this summer, those who are still manufacturing and trying to sell SUV's will be up shite's creek. Look for the automakers to switch tactics and start producing larger cars that look like SUV's but are still smaller and more efficient.

 

Also, with the urbanization and industrialization boom going on in China, things can only get worse they will never get better with fossil fuels.

I never could understand the SUV thing. I had a 4-Runner in LA and just found it too inconvenient to get around town so I traded it for a 2000 Celica. The Celica got 35 MPG on the highway about 28 MPG in the city. Much better on the fill up -- even if it took the premo gas. I have fallen in love with Coopers -- I want one and will get one soon. I just have to take the time to go buy one. They get something like 40-50 MPG from what I've heard -- which rocks.

 

I have heard mixed reviews about the hybrids. Some say they are prone to spontaneously combust... sounds like the Fieros from the 80s.

 

But JGJ, I think you're right. Plus I don't think its helping us that some rocket scientist thought it would be a good idea to televise the fact that Congress is looking at enforcing a price ceiling on what oil companies can charge consumers. The oil companies are probably going to rape us until (or if) that evolves into a "law."

[gliph]

Here's the thing i don't get. I don't see how "demand" can cause this kind of fluctuation. Seriously. This crap bounces around more than the stock market... and it seems like its all based on the media hype... so you hear on the national news that gas prices are going up, and poof! everything goes up around you... if it was really based that much on demand, wouldn't we see quick highs AND quick lows? or are there quick lows, but we don't notice, cause we only remember when its up?

[Lycorth]

I don't think demand causes the gas price inflation. It's the fact we're buying the oil used to make gas from other countries to begin with that is the problem. The costs would be cheaper, at least a little (but probably much more so) if we simply drilled for our own oil and did our own work like big boys and girls instead of just throwing money at someone and expecting to get the same as if we did our own work.

 

SUVs are ok - I wouldn't buy one, at least not right now, but that's also because I'm poor and I live in the city. I can barely get my aging Grand Prix around over here - I'd have to be nuts to buy an SUV. Besides, their only real use is practical, such as bad weather or if you've got lots of objects or bodies to haul. They don't get nearly enough to the gallon to make them practical, anyway, but I don't see how they are a problem at all. Most people I know, and most people I observe on the highways or in parking lots don't have them, anyway, so they're not exactly glutting the earth. Most people just drive what they can afford, regardless of how much gas they take (unless there's a specific problem in that department, of course).

 

If we just drilled for our own oil, we'd do a lot to lower gas prices. That, and if we developed alternative energy sources faster (as if we're not able) we'd do a lot to completely avoid the oil issues we've almost always had. And since we're the technology-capable United States, we can drill safely for oil and not risk harming the environment, so I just don't see the problem.

 

If we did our own work and relied less on other countries - especially ones that any dope knows can't be trusted - we'd be much better off. Our dependance on imports of all kinds is, to me, a perfect example of why George Washington warned us not to get "entangled" with other nations or their affairs. No matter the reason, when a country ceases to behave self-sufficiently, it pays the price, just like individuals do.

[ped]

fanatical free market government. samething that went on in cali with enron.

[jrmarlin]

Oh, I agree Var, but the problem is the environmental special interest groups prohibit us from drilling here. They raise such a stink about the possibility of drilling in Alaska. And Alaska has enough oil to last us a long time!

[garrisonjj]

The other day, in the time it took me to go exchange a movie at wal-mart, I come out and the Exxon on the corner went from $2.15 to $2.34 per gallon. In literally 15 minutes. What's up with this?

 

I mean hell's bells... The gas was the same gas as when I went into the store as when I came out. So how the hell did it go up almost twenty cents. Where is the sense in that?

 

It must've been the gas FAIREY! ACK!

 

Unfortunately the biggest fuckin problem with gas prices is now China! Yes China now imports more petro than the Us keeping demand very high.Even with 20% less use this winter oil prices here remain high. Wal Mart is opening 150 stores in China!!!!

As far as gas prices go,,,,"you ain't seen nothing !!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Lycorth]

Oh, I agree Var, but the problem is the environmental special interest groups prohibit us from drilling here. They raise such a stink about the possibility of drilling in Alaska. And Alaska has enough oil to last us a long time!

 

Heh, exactly. They all act like the world is going to blow up if we so much as set a human foot on the bug-infested swamp in question, which is where all the oil lies in the first place. Paranoia is never healthy, whether it's in regards to the afterlife or to this one.

 

They never stop to think that if there were a species of animal that needed to use oil for their survival (like ingest it, for the sake of the argument) that said animal would be digging holes in the ground without a moment's thought for what it's doing. Then they insist that we are evil for wanting to do the same thing, even though we'd give plenty of thought to how we'd do it and take all sorts of neccessary precautions to protect ourselves and the earth during the process. That is the same tripe as when a Xian states that we are not made for this earth but for some other dimension, ie, that we're not a part of nature like everything else and have the right to act accordingly.

 

They just don't want to give their own race of beings credit that they might actually use their brains and not make a mess of things Human-hating garbage, the lot of it

[white_raven23]

(local gripe about to commence)

 

If they would just open up ANWR......and tax the crap out of foreign oil companies doing the drilling. Hell I think we should be drilling our own anyway.

 

The environmentalists sqawking about ANWR need to actually spend some fucking TIME up here. Perhaps the wildlife in the lower 48 requires babysitting......our's does NOT. Our animals adjust to shit. As I can attest to after watching a moose teach her calf how to cross a six lane (three lanes one way, three the other) highway during morning rush hour just last week.

If a wild animal the size of a damn horse has no problem moseying along, barely giving us so much as a consideration in the middle of vehicle traffic; I really have to say I have a hard time believing these animals "need our protection".

 

Want to know how the caribou were "impacted" when the oil pipeline was built? Herds of thousands walk right under the fucking thing every year! Want to know how the polar bears were impacted by oil exploration? We don't know......they tend to EAT the humans they butt heads with! As long as human beings in that area have to attend classes on avoiding getting killed by the wildlife in the Arctic, I have to say I think the animals are pretty safe.

 

The people of Alaska are very environmentally conscious. We like our animals. Yes we eat them too, but we still LIKE them! We were heartbroken by the Exxon oil spill when it happened. We were furious about Hazelwood (drunk ass captain). People were taking time off work to drive down the coast to help wash crude oil off birds and clean the beaches (I wasn't old enough...but if I had been, I'd have gone).

 

The point is, fo the evironmentalists who've never been here, to want to treat us all like cold blooded, careless baby seal killers who want to drill for oil as rudely as you can imagine, while crushing the skulls of wetland bird chicks beneath our boots......that's offensive. Especially when they prevent growth, jobs, and the reduction of national oil prices because they think we're going to "rape ANWR".

 

(rant over)

[ped]

its because pinko fags dont want to kill chavez like godly patty.

oil in alaska is supposed to last maybe a year or two year at current consumption. hey lets rape the planet so oil companys can make money a little longer, while they get their gruby hands on new technology. oil is a finite source, its used for much more than petrol. when we get to the point where no one hardly drives these out-dated machines of today, then we can rely on alaska for other petrol needs.

if demand is up on oil, prices go up. if demand were down to the point of 99% of people driving 15% (ethanol) or electric, prices would go up it doesnt matter. this is what happens when the most vital part of an economy is ran by lightly regulated capitalists. they can all set prices at whatever the fuck they want, regardless of whom they purchase the crude from.

gas prices were 1.15-1.19 before bush, who ran in 2000 saying he wants to lower the federal tax on fuel, within 6 months it was up .20 for no reason (oh wait it was 'america hating clinton' who had the economy going so good it caused a minor recesion) we all thought that was really bad. theres no problem with supply-

how many times in the 90's did gas rise $.5 and $.6 PG when a moderate hurricane hit florida..thats right never. if it rose in price it was 3 to 5 cents or so and came down in 1-2 weeks.

[Lycorth]

Drilling for oil is no more "raping the earth" than drilling a water well or picking an apple from a tree. The logic doesn't fit.

[Thurisaz]

*thinks of the current gas price in Germany*

 

*does some calculations to translate €/liters into $/gallons*

 

*arrives at roughly 5 $/gallon*

 

Any questions?

[white_raven23]

Drilling for oil is no more "raping the earth" than drilling a water well or picking an apple from a tree. The logic doesn't fit.

 

RA-men!!

 

I hate that cliche'! It's so egotistical too! George Carlin has a great bit about it too.

 

We're so self-important. So self-important. Everybody's going to save something now. "Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails." And the greatest arrogance of all: save the planet. What? Are these fucking people kidding me? Save the planet, we don't even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven't learned how to care for one another, we're gonna save the fucking planet? I'm getting tired of that shit. Tired of that shit. I'm tired of fucking Earth Day, I'm tired of these self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren't enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world save for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don't give a shit about the planet. They don't care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don't. Not in the abstract they don't. You know what they're interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They're worried that some day in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn't impress me.

 

Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We've been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we're a threat? That somehow we're gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that's just a-floatin' around the sun?

 

The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles...hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages...And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet...the planet...the planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE!

 

We're going away. Pack your shit, folks. We're going away. And we won't leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet'll be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.

 

You wanna know how the planet's doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet's doing. You wanna know if the planet's all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.

 

The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does. It's a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it's true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, "Why are we here?" Plastic...asshole.

 

Okay....so it was a bit longer than a "bit"......but certainly worthwhile.

[JGJ@ReligionisBullshit]

Here's the thing i don't get. I don't see how "demand" can cause this kind of fluctuation. Seriously. This crap bounces around more than the stock market... and it seems like its all based on the media hype... so you hear on the national news that gas prices are going up, and poof! everything goes up around you... if it was really based that much on demand, wouldn't we see quick highs AND quick lows? or are there quick lows, but we don't notice, cause we only remember when its up?

 

Ok, gliph, here's how it works the simple way. The oil companies will raise prices as long as there is demand and they think they can get away with a higher price. Demand for oil is higher than it has ever been in the history of mankind. If something in the media mentions a threat to supply, sure, they will spike the prices for as long as they can. It is all very dynamic but the root is demand. If there was lower demand the price would fall because they couldn't get away with the price they would stick on it. There is no shortage of oil thus, it is demand. Oil companies posted record profits last year soley upon demand, if it was a supply problem there wouldn't be enough gas to go around and it would be the 70's all over again. Sure, it's not just the SUV's it is a combination of factors, increased shipping demands, free trade agreements which require more ships to travel abroad sucking up huge amounts of diesel, and like I mentioned above industrialization and urbanization of China.

 

The cure will not be opening up new oil fields because no matter how much oil we have on hand now or later, oil companies will still spike prices to whatever they feel they can get away with. Stricter regulations on gas prices by governments and alternative fuels so there is competition not just between oil companies but between the choice of fuel types will be our only hope. Alternative fuel cars is only part of that solution, getting pumps out there is another, and we won't get pumps out there until there is a fundemental change in the auto industry to create alternative fuel cars. The only way to do that is by legislation because as long as people buy gas cars, there will always be a demand for them.

 

To summarize:

 

A. Federal control over gas prices.

B. Federal legislation to limit the mpg to no less than 25mpg or the like which will help towards alternative fuel cars.

C. Federal initiatives to encourage the gas companies to provide alternative fuel pumps.

[ped]

okay you use the oil up in alaska...then what, back to square one.

alaska isnt texas and the gulf of mexico isnt a barren dessert in arabia.

 

im sorry to ya georgie but uh we cant breath mercury and CO2 so yeah im in it for self interest. I couldnt imagine where we'd be if it wasnt for "self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals" keeping you from living in a land fill and breathing neurotoxic particulate matter in the 150 degree summer. we may not be killing the earth but we sure the hell could kill the parts thats a major fucking life source for us. theres 6 billion people and growing, and most want the good life. there will people willing to exploit that, and it'll all come from the earth. THAT ISNT CONCEIT THATS FORESIGHT.

[white_raven23]

Pbbbth!

 

Use up the damn oil! Please!

 

Once it's all gone.....then maybe someone might take the need for alternative energy sources seriously!

[ped]

 

 

 

*thinks of the current gas price in Germany*

 

*does some calculations to translate €/liters into $/gallons*

 

*arrives at roughly 5 $/gallon*

 

Any questions?

 

 

yeah are europeans paying more for petrol or simply higher taxes? because as far as i can figure that would be economically stupid unless its only the individual paying those prices.

[Lycorth]

Drilling for oil is no more "raping the earth" than drilling a water well or picking an apple from a tree. The logic doesn't fit.

 

RA-men!!

 

I hate that cliche'! It's so egotistical too! George Carlin has a great bit about it too.

 

We're so self-important. So self-important. Everybody's going to save something now. "Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails." And the greatest arrogance of all: save the planet. What? Are these fucking people kidding me? Save the planet, we don't even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven't learned how to care for one another, we're gonna save the fucking planet? I'm getting tired of that shit. Tired of that shit. I'm tired of fucking Earth Day, I'm tired of these self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren't enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world save for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don't give a shit about the planet. They don't care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don't. Not in the abstract they don't. You know what they're interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They're worried that some day in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn't impress me.

 

Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We've been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we're a threat? That somehow we're gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that's just a-floatin' around the sun?

 

The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles...hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages...And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet...the planet...the planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE!

 

We're going away. Pack your shit, folks. We're going away. And we won't leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet'll be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.

 

You wanna know how the planet's doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet's doing. You wanna know if the planet's all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.

 

The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does. It's a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it's true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, "Why are we here?" Plastic...asshole.

 

Okay....so it was a bit longer than a "bit"......but certainly worthwhile.

 

 

Ramen to you - and George!

 

He sums it up perfectly. The earth has been here for millions of years, and we've been here barely a fraction of that. The planet has been bombarded with far worse stuff from interstellar space and does worse damage to itself on a daily basis than we can ever cook up. Even if we detonated every nuke there is, all we'd do is kill ourselves. The earth would remain in orbit, perhaps have a shit atmosphere for a little while, but it would recover. Nature would restore itself as is it's wont and ability, and the silent grass and trees would return again, as fair as ever. The only loss would be to ourselves.

 

Environmentalists care about the earth. That's great - more people should... but because we have to live here. It doesn't make any sense to wreck your own home looking for gold in the cellar. Sensible oil drilling is logical and won't harm the earth one bit - and may buy us time to develop an alternative to oil. Or else we'll use it up and be forced to find another way. Either or, oil drilling cannot possibly be a problem - except to the white, bourgeois liberals who would *gasp* be forced to admit they're wrong and be seen for the paranoiacs they are.

[pandora]

Spring Break usually drives up gas prices.....

[jrmarlin]

Wow, what a heated debate. Well, it could be said that steam energy inside the earth could last us for far longer than we could ever fathom. Removing Steam for energy does not rape the earth. However, no one seems to want to further that technology. It has been around since the 70s but everyone thinks nuclear is the better alternative. The problem with nuclear is there is really no accpetable place to put nuclear waste without bringing some harm to people living on the earth.

 

I have always said that steam could be a very good resource for us but like someone said about (I think it was WR) until they use all the oil up, no one is particularly interested in figuring out a better solution.

 

Yes, what George Washington said was very true. America should have always remained unto itself; thus, we would not dependent on anyone else for our sources of fuel, etc. No truer words have been said and I believe he had great foresight that this very problem could become a problem down the road. We should have listened to his words of wisdom instead of getting all embroiled in everyone else's deal. It's really a shame. Just a real shame.

 

Pan, as for spring break, I can understand but I know for a fact that the prices are way over-inflated right now -- before the 20 cents hike. The oil has been down. It says so on the news. I believe it's because Congress has been holding hearings to re-regulate the gas prices in order to bring it down to a reasonable level. After Katrina, oil companies went nuts. In some places it was up to $6.00 a gallon (Atlanta) and when all the people started calling the price gauging lines, this raised a lot of eyes brows...but the eyes really opened when Exxon et. al. posted over $50 BILLION in profits -- over what they have made in previous years. Now this caused a big stir and it was well publicized. Everyone from Hannity to O'Reilly were trying to get oil company CEOs on their show to ask the burning question, "Why?"

 

I think that has a lot to do with the prices now. Oil companies are very greed and this is nothing new. They're just going to keep raping Americans as long as they can until "big brother" makes it impossible (if ever) for them to continue to do so.

[Thurisaz]

Are europeans paying more for petrol or simply higher taxes? because as far as i can figure that would be economically stupid unless its only the individual paying those prices.

 

I don't know for sure what it's like in the rest of Europe, but at our German gas stations you find a sticker next to every price display saying "per liter of gas, 80 cent taxes". The total current price for gas is some € 1.30. Go figure.

 

 

Wow, what a heated debate. Well, it could be said that steam energy inside the earth could last us for far longer than we could ever fathom. Removing Steam for energy does not rape the earth. However, no one seems to want to further that technology. It has been around since the 70s but everyone thinks nuclear is the better alternative.

 

Speak only for yourself

 

Alternative energy sources are still thoroughly examined and much research is being done, at least over here in goo' ol' Germany. It's still far too little research if you ask me, but there's always something, no?

As for geothermal heat, not too long ago (some months max) I read about a new experimental power plant being built somewhere over here, using a new (in some way) tech for siphoning off that heat down there effectively. Not all is lost.

 

(And if you happen to come to Northern Germany, take a tour through the countryside... and count the smaller and larger windmill power plants scattered all over the northern plains!)

[jrmarlin]

(And if you happen to come to Northern Germany, take a tour through the countryside... and count the smaller and larger windmill power plants scattered all over the northern plains!)

We have some windmills here in the US. Some are like relics from ages ago, but there is an area in the desert between LA and Vegas where there is fields of those windmills. Never knew what the power generated from them went...but I have seen them. It's kind of creepy at night because its usually very dark but headlights make them look strange.

 

I don't know, I haven't heard a lot of talk via the news about investigating addition alternatives. Bush said some loose thing about Nuclear right after Katrina but I usually chalk that kind of talk as crisis mode ledge talking - thus, not containing anything real or tangible. But as I state above, nuclear waste would be a problem.

 

So it's really anyone's guess. Just know that the oil is bound to run out sometime. Nothing lasts forever.

[Thurisaz]

We have some windmills here in the US. Some are like relics from ages ago, but there is an area in the desert between LA and Vegas where there is fields of those windmills. Never knew what the power generated from them went...but I have seen them. It's kind of creepy at night because its usually very dark but headlights make them look strange.

 

Yeah it's a funny sight. "Our" windmills have blinking red lights at the top to warn any possible airplane travelers with suicidal tendencies. At night a field of them looks like a UFO landing strip.

[Rosa Mystica]

This thread makes me really glad I don't own a car.