Saturday, April 16, 2011

Why Are We So Dependent on Foreign Oil?

Vlad just sent me this:

"PRICE OF GAS AROUND THE WORLD

Prices are quoted in US dollars per gallon for regular unleaded as of March 2011

Oslo, Norway $6.82

Hong Kong$6.25

Brussels, Belgium $6.16

London, UK $5.96

Rome, Italy $5.80
CANADA $5.36


Tokyo, Japan $5.25

Sao Paul o , Brazil $4.42

New Delhi, India $3.71

Sidney, Australia $3.42

Johannesburg , South Africa $3.39

Mexico City$2.22

Buenos Aires, Argentina $2.09
... YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS ....

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia $0.09

Kuwait $0.08

Caracas, Venezuela $0.12

Gee, if only the U.S. was an oil producing nation....."

Those countries subsidize fuel prices for the citizenry. It's smoke and mirrors, exactly the same way that prescription meds in the US are sometimes 50 cents a bottle for those with good insurance, while the same stuff is $300 without the insurance. That is the real reason most gasoline in the US contains ethanol, and most US-built cars are now "flexi-fuel": because the US government subsidizes corn. It is also in what the market will carry. Most Americans make enough money to pay $3.00 per gallon, and a large percentage of Americans are leftists who think it should be even higher.
Some of those oil-producing countries are having monetary troubles of their own, at least partially as a result of those subsidies. But we mustn't allow the proles to become alarmed by suddenly having to pay market price for fuel, right?
Instead of bellyaching about the price of oil, Americans need to wake up and start buying natural gas fuel conversion kits for their vehicles. They are available now, emissions are lower, operating cost is much lower, and the car can still be operated on gasoline same as before. Besides all those advantages, America is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. Not from the standpoint of subsidies, but from the standpoint of supply. That means that every CNG-powered car or truck out there reduces our dependence on foreign oil. I'm pretty sure you can buy a CNG ready vehicle directly from the dealer, too. If not, it wouldn't take very long for the automakers to get the message if we started refusing to buy ethanol-oriented cars and demanded CNG-powered cars. I mean, gasoline-electric hybrids don't even make economic sense, yet the automakers build them. Why? Consumer demand.

Look, I don't claim to have all the answers. But I have a few little pieces of information I have gleaned here and there, and I have learned to recognize mass-control rhetoric when I hear it.
There is one man who has proven himself to know what he is talking about, at least when it comes to the energy situation, and he seems to be straight up about it. By that I mean, the end result of what he says doesn't lead to ever more government control. That man is T. Boone Pickens, and anyone who is interested in the politics and realities of energy owes it to themselves to spend ten bucks for his book. Here is a link:

6 comments:

Kulkuri said...

Comparing gas prices in different countries is a wasted effort unless you subtract the taxes to get the real cost of gas, then you'd find the cost is less in Europe than here. Then again to get the real cost you'd have to add in all the other costs like the wars and other costs in protecting the oil companies, not to mention all the tax breaks and subsidies the government gives those "Poor" oil companies.

I thought about doing a propane conversion on my old plowtruck and found it would cost more than the truck is worth. While there are advantages, the cost is prohibitive, at least in this case.

Tracy said...

Isn't the propane conversion kit something you could move to your next plowtruck? Unless I am mistaken, it is primarily just a different carburetor. I've known guys who had two or three vehicles and only one carb, and switched the carb to whichever vehicle they were currently driving. Battery too, but that's another story. I knew one guy who switched an engine between two vehicles. But I digress.

Kulkuri said...

The kit was $800-1000 and doesn't include the tank. The truck was $400, you do the math. Maybe if I could find a used set-up for a reasonable price, I could see doing a conversion, but it wouldn't pay for me to buy a new conversion kit.
Sure I could move it to another truck, but I don't plan on buying another truck. Most of my purchases these days are with the thought that maybe this will last as long as I do.
After I'm gone The Kid ain't going to bother with my old trucks and stuff, she'll just junk it all.

Tracy said...

Are we talking about the Jeepster Commando?

Kulkuri said...

No, a '79 Jeep J20 with a Western plow. Bought it the other year, and have been working on it a little. Did a tune-up last summer, put in a new accelerator pump to fix the leak in the carb. Jacked up the cab on the drivers side and put 2x4 blocks in to hold it up. Replaced the rag joint(it was made from plastic) on the steering that broke after jacking up the cab. Fixed the brake line to the rear wheels so it would have brakes. About all that's left before I can use it for plowing snow is to replace the drive chain between the trans and the transfer case, it's worn and slips on hard acceleration. I'll be doing that this summer.
Still have the Jeepster and another one to keep it company in the field.

Unknown said...

Why do we depend on foreign oil, when we have tons here in our backyard. Lets us extract this oil.