*Annoyingly Boldfaced Warning*
The following post contains excessively vulgar language and concepts that are not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. Read further at your own risk.GAS PRICES!!!
Hey, don't say I didn't warn you.
If you are still with me, then I compliment you on having a strong constitution thus far. But wait, gentle readers, I'm just getting started...
I'm willing to bet that the oil industry is quite likely having quite a large boner over the upcoming summer price hikes. Yes, I said "BONER."
In fact, we're not just talking about any kind of boner, no sirree. We're talking about the King of Boners. The combined height of the mega tower that would result if we took both of the Patronus Towers, converted them to oil derricks and stood one on top of another. And then take that tower and keep building it with the "tons of carbon" that Al Gore keeps talking about.
I bet the erection of such a tower could be witnessed from space. It would be mammoth. An oil derrick that reached as far into space as possible.
Might even poke the Moon's eye out, that's how big we're talking about.
I'm not totally against capitalism, far from it. But when I read in the news about "record-breaking profits" in the oil industry seemingly every quarter, it gives me a little pause.
We haven't built a refinery in this country for over 30 years. Our capacity for refining gasoline is dropping below the demand for it. New discoveries and production of oil is slowly on the decline.
And quite honestly, that's the way they like it. Basic law of supply and demand.
Why build a refinery when they can pull in more cash and not have to squander it on construction costs, meeting environmental standards, etc.?
Nope. Keep it restricted as much as possible. After all, if their end point customers are willing to pay, why back off?
Speaking about
fattening their own pockets instead of really getting to work on the problems of an increasing worldwide population and the slowly dwindling supply of natural resources on this planet...
Oh, what, you saw what I did there?
Heh. Think about it for a sec.
Isn't the purpose of the Strategic National Reserve to help stabilize in times of supply disruptions? To help prevent sudden price hikes when disaster strikes?
Alright, let's think about that for a minute. When Hurricane Katrina (and Rita to a lesser extent) smacked the Gulf Coast, prices at the pump almost doubled over the course of the next couple of months. The damage across the Gulf was fairly substantial, but when the prices shot up so we were mostly assured that they would head back to normal after things calmed down.
Ok. Take a look for a moment at where the current SNR storage facilities are located.
From Wikipedia:
Bryan Mound - located near Freeport, Texas. Has a capacity of 226 million barrels (36,000,000 m³).
Big Hill - located near Winnie, Texas. Has a capacity of 160 million barrels (25,000,000 m³).
West Hackberry - located near Lake Charles, Louisiana. Has a capacity of 219 million barrels (35,000,000 m³).
Bayou Choctaw - located near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Has a capacity of 72 million barrels (11,000,000 m³).
All locations are rather damned close to the Gulf. Winnie & Lake Charles located near Rita's path, Baton Rouge being west of Katrina's.
Since the Gulf is a major source of domestic oil as well as containing key ports, oil and gas refineries, it makes sense to keep the oil close at hand to the middle of the country so that it could be distributed where needed.
So, it's a 50/50 proposition. As long as the hurricanes stay away, there's no reason things won't be hunky dory again really soon in the next couple of years, right?
Wrong.
The situation is this. The President has ordered an increase of the SNR to over a BILLION barrels of stored oil, up from the current 727 million barrel capacity.
This means that the government will likely be drawing around 100,000 barrels off the market every day to meet this new storage target.
That means less oil on the daily market that could be converted into gas, folks. Supply and demand.
Other factors that tie into the price of oil:
* Trading in oil futures & speculation.
* Production end issues, supply, transportation to refineries.
* Political instability, diplomatic issues between nations, war.
* Price fixing by major oil producing countries and corporations.
* Lack of serious alternative energy implementation.
* Forgetting the lessons of the late 70's, where America drove huge, gas guzzling bastard machines and traded them in during the 80's for more fuel efficient vehicles, cars slowly again became larger and more gas wasteful. It gets to the point where you seriously do want to cock punch the guy in the H2 and kick his 10 MPG driving ass.
* God and his witty sense of humor.
We've heard so much talk about researching into alternative fuels, global climate change, our "carbon footprints." The sad irony is that it is more how the money in our bank account is affected rather than the effect that we are supposedly making on the environment with our tomfoolery that is even driving this discussion.
Flash back two decades and one year ago. The Chernobyl nuclear facility, thanks to the efficiency and grand progressive design of the plant courtesy of the USSR, had a little problem. One that essentially has resulted in the virtual shut down of surrounding miles and miles of territory. Territory that was now going to "glow in the dark" for a few centuries.
Back then, the prevailing view was that nuclear plants were the Devil. True, the impact of a potential nuclear disaster was quite daunting, but the more learned truth behind the situation was that nuclear power was, over the long term, more efficient and cost effective. As long as the facility didn't explode, we were in for cheaper power and a cleaner environment.
Well, a cleaner overall environment except for certain underground vaults located in the southwestern United States that will contain the severely radioactive waste products for hopefully thousands of undisturbed years.
Nuclear plants were built, but the nation still primarily relied on fossil fuels for power. Some effort was made into tapping into solar, wind and geothermal energy, but not enough to offset the increasing demands for more power.
So far, I've been pointing a lot of fingers in every direction. Truth is, I'm just as much a part of the problem as everyone else is.
I drive a small pickup, while it does get fairly reasonable gas milage, it doesn't get as much as my old Saturn did. I need the pickup for work purposes, so I can justify its usefulness.
The problem I face is that I work in a city that has a housing market that is on its way to rivaling Southern California's. The cost of living in this town is such that I literally cannot afford to live close to where I work based on my salary. I currently have a roommate, but even then I have a 14.2 mile commute to work every morning.
This is better than the 32 mile one way trip I used to have when I lived south of the city, but it still hits the wallet every time I stop at the gas station.
My chosen career path is one where there aren't too many places that I can go to for a job that is closer to home. So, I have to commute.
Public transportation in this town is a fucking joke. To get to work by taking the bus, I'd literally be sitting on a series of buses for around two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. I cannot bike to work since I live that far away and there isn't anyone to rideshare with.
My point is with this that I still make the choice to go to work every day. I love what I do, but if I had to, sure I could find something else that is closer.
Meanwhile, I'm sucking down 28 gallons of gas a week going to work, running errands, meeting up with friends who live across town and what not. I'm just as much to blame as anyone else.
If we're going to get serious about finding ways to get off oil, then we should stop bitching about it and fucking do it already. The prices are only going to go up, especially once we hit
global Peak oil. There is a finite amount of resources on this planet, kids, and that is a fact.
It's only a matter of time.
Labels: Complaint Department, General Commentary, Political Rant
