- President's energy security speech called for alternate energy with goal to cut imported oil by one-third over the next decade; a decade from now!
- Saudi Arabia sent emissaries to Russia and China to short up support following unrest in the Mideast, not to its longest ally, the US
- President devotes more than half-a-day to a photo op town meeting/campaign stop in a wind turbine factory when oil moves to $109
By the way, the only takeaway for me from that town meeting:
By the way, President Obama thinks it is something to laugh about if folks are still driving vehicles that get 8 mpg.
“If you’re complaining about the price of gas and you’re only getting 8 miles a gallon, you know,” Obama said laughingly. “You might want to think about a trade-in.” Let them eat cake.Construction workers driving their personal pick-up trucks to work or farmers driving their pick-up trucks to their fields probably deserve a bit more respect than that. Something tells me the individual asking the question was not driving a Hummer. [Note: "anonymous" pointed out that my earlier example of Deere farm equipment and Caterpillar heavy construction equipment was a poor example; and suggested that folks driving Hummers deserve to be laughed at. Weren't Hummers made by Government Motors?]
I think that the federal government's response to Virginia's efforts to re-open drilling off-shore will show us where the administration is headed.
Isn't this the free market at work? If Obama did intervene there would be just as many people complaining that he's meddling in the free market and only a socialist would interfere.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, if you're driving a hummer and you complain about gas prices then it is something to laugh at.
As far as the farmers go, since when does the right care about farmers and their operating costs? Oh yeah, when it goes along with their story at the moment. They certainly don't care enough about them when it comes to their healthcare costs. My father's fuel costs were far less than his healthcare bills. Ended up losing the farm because his medical bills spun out of control even though he was insured. It's one of the biggest reasons for the loss of family farms in North Dakota.
Whenever I hear someone in the GOP acting as though they're trying to help farmers I wonder what my dad would have said if he were still alive today, or what one of my neighbor's dad would have said. We both lost our family farms due to healthcare and saving a few thousand on fuell wouldn't have mattered compared to a million other things the GOP could have done.
Yeah, they care about farmers, as long as their oil buddies are being helped out in the process and their fake compassion fits with the narrative.
The fuel efficiency of a tractor is measured in horsepower hours per gallon (hp-hr/gal), not MPG.
ReplyDeleteI think you hit a nerve Bruce. The plane up front gets the most flak anyway.
ReplyDeleteBrian
Thank you for your support. There's no question that I am not happy with the energy policies of this administration.
ReplyDeleteI worry that my opinion posts detract from the integrity of my data-only posts. But, it has been my impression that a data-only blog is fairly boring.
In fact, the only comments I get come when I post an opinion post. (Exception: folks note my errors on data-only posts which I really appreciate.)
In fact, I often post an opinion post just to see if anyone is reading what I post. It really is boring not to get feedback.
We all have different experiences, different needs, different myths, but the work that is done on a daily basis by roughnecks, truck drivers, frack teams, and all the support folks never ceases to amaze me.
In a general sense, I feel strongly that the oil industry has done more good for North Dakota than some folks might acknowledge. Growth does not come without cost (environmental, infrastructure, etc) but life would be boring without challenges.
By the way, interestingly enough, on this issue, President Obama might have it right -- there's a lot of anxiety over high oil prices. I just completed a post looking back three years for the price of North Dakota Sweet, and it was higher for a longer period of time back in 2008. Put into perspective, perhaps President Obama is not so far off base.