Los Angelinos Proposing $35 Million Overpass For Mountain Lions -- September 2, 2015

Updates

October 25, 2020: project is still "on." 

Original Post 

Los Angelinos are proposing to build a $35 million wildlife bridge over Interstate 101 for mountain lions to cross over. Where would they get the money? From "public coffers." Taxpayers. LOL.

Artist's rendering of proposed mountain lion overpass:

To ensure the mountain lions use this overpass, the city will hire Tyrolian shepherds to stage their sheep on either side of the overpass. Both white and black sheep will be staged and integrated at both sheep-holding areas. Animal activists have also been assured that no "live" sheep will actually be injured in this endeavor. Max's Deli over on Figueroa Street will get the contract to place mutton chops on the overpass; the meat will be imported from Australia. St Bernards will protect the "live" sheep.

PETA will provide 24/7 oversight of the overpass / underpass. The Tyrolian shepherd will be bonded due to the litigious nature of Californians. The overpass will meet or exceed California earthquake standards.

Construction will result in 350 jobs for about 18 months. Al Gore, the inventor of wildlife overpasses, will be the on-site consultant-advisor and will represent the mountain lions. Once the overpass is completed, approximately twenty full-time employees will manage the project, including one more PETA observer than necessary; two Tyrolian shepherds; one St Bernard handler; two "overpass park rangers" who will remove sheep droppings and mountain lion waste; and one mutton chop courier. Wildlife specialists will be posted at regular intervals on both sides of the freeway leading up to the overpass to ensure no humans accidentally wander into the protected area.

This is why I remain inappropriately optimistic about the future of the United States. We apparently have a) no shortage of money; and, b) no shortage of really, really good ideas.

Great Article On America's Super-Abundance Of Oil -- Investor's Business Daily -- September 2, 2015

This article is a keeper; one that needs to be archived. This should put the final nail in Mr M King Hubbert's coffin. From wiki:

Hubbert's Peak was thought to have been achieved in the United States contiguous 48 states (that is, excluding Alaska) in the early 1970s. Oil production peaked at 10,200,000 barrels per day (1,620,000 m3/d) and then declined for several years since.

Yet, recent advances in extraction technology and optimistic production forecasts has led to widespread skepticism of Hubbert's theory.  However, the 1970s peak has not been reached, despite assertions to the contrary.

I wonder if wiki will ever have to update that entry.

Oil production peaked at 10,200,000 barrels per day (1,620,000 m3/d) and then declined for several years since. According to this link at Investor's Business Daily,

Last month the Energy Department reported that the U.S. hit an energy milestone: We produced 9.52 million barrels a day. That was very close to the highest output level in recorded history. So much for running out.

Flashbacks:

• Flashback, 2011: "The United States of America cannot afford to bet our long-term prosperity, our long-term security on a resource that will eventually run out, and even before it runs out will get more and more expensive to extract from the ground." -- President Barack Obama.
• Flashback, 1980: Jimmy Carter declared that by 2000 we'd be nearly out of oil — running on empty.
• Flashback to the era of The Great Gatsby, before WWI: Famously in the 1920s, the Interior Department projected less than a few decades' worth of recoverable oil in the country.

There's so much oil, the price of oil has plummeted below $40, and adjusted for inflation ... well, it's pretty cheap.

Anyway, enough of that. You get the picture.

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Couscous

With that as backdrop, apparently President Obama, a lame duck president, will be meeting with the new king of Saudi Arabia sometime this week or next. I hope he enjoys couscous because that's probably the best he will get out of the meeting.

Saudis have already met with Putin, last July, in Moscow. The chess game continues.

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Pish-Posh

Unfettered, the Bakken was projected to produce 2 million bopd sometime later this year or next. Production would have gone on through 2100 A.D. Now at 1 million bopd, the reservoir will last that much longer, but most likely Bakken production will flatline at 750,000 bopd if the Saudis maintain their production. (I doubt they will, but with all the other oil being produced, my hunch is that Bakken will plateau at 750,000 bopd before it's all over.)

The New 53-Mile Extended Reach Chevrolet Volt Is Here -- Well, It's Almost Here -- It's On Its Way To Canada (Really?) And California; EV Sales Plummet 27% Year-Over-Year -- September 2, 2015

(Memo to self: is "plum-et" spelled with one "em" or two "em"s?)

Wow, can you believe it! The 2016 Chevrolet Volts are finally here. The second generation, 53-mile extended range Chevy Volts are now on their way to California and Canada. (You might have to scroll to the bottom of that link to find that information).

[It used to go 60 miles on a single charge. See below.]

Well, that's not quite accurate. The 2016 Chevy Volt won't be in "full, national production mode until November."

But wow, 53-mile extended range. 

Back on October 27, 2013 -- almost two years ago, Chevrolet was telling us the Chevrolet Volt could run up to 96 miles on batteries. The link is here if you don't believe me. That story ran for months. And it was never corrected. The headline said 96 miles; the story was 96 kilometers -- a huge, huge difference. Ninety-six kilometers is ... 57.6 miles.

So, this debacle has gone from bad to worse. First, the Chevrolet headline said the first generation Volt could run 96 miles on a single charge, when in fact, that was a misprint (intentional?) -- the first generation Volt could only get 96 kilometers on a single charge, which is about 60 miles.

Now, two years later, they have an extended reach, new and improved Chevrolet that can go ... 53 miles on a single charge.

Are we making progress here? Like the government's revised GDP figures, I guess, pick a number, any number: 53, 60, 96. What does it matter anyway?

Speaking of progress, or lack of progress, buried deep in that link (this one) EV sales for August, 2015, this past month, were .... drum roll ... 27% below sales one year ago.

The very last sentence in that story: "The Chevrolet Volt's strongest sales year was in 2012."

Really? Three years ago.

Thank goodness the 2016, extended reach, 53-mile range new and improved Chevrolet Volt is finally here.

I'm holding out for a Tesla.

For The Archives: California's Dependency On Domestic Oil And Gas Industry -- September 2, 2015

For the archives. The Breitbart article has to do with fracking and California's drought. It's really a two-piece article. The first half of the article is on the Monterey Shale formation; the second half is one California's dependency on oil.

I linked this article earlier with the emphasis on Monterey Shale. This time, the stand-alone post has do with California's dependency on the oil and gas industry. If I was unaware of this, I assume most Californians were unaware of it, and certainly all of those "Jaywalkers" on Jay Leno's late night show are unaware of it.

Some very interesting data points:

The Sacramento Bee reported that up to half of the hundreds of new wells drilled each year in the San Joaquin Valley are being “fracked,” according to a study required by the 2013 law regulating the practice. [By the way, note the spelling of "fracked" by the Sacramento Bee.]

Zack Malitz of the environmental group Credo complained to Reuters: “Governor Brown is forcing ordinary Californians to shoulder the burden of the drought by cutting their personal water use while giving the oil industry a continuing license to break the law and poison our water.”

He added, “Fracking and toxic injection wells may not be the largest uses of water in California, but they are undoubtedly some of the stupidest.”

Gov. Brown has tried to sound high-minded about water use, but the real issue is that California’s State Budget is highly reliant on the oil industry revenues. 

The blog CalWatchdog.com calculated that the oil and gas industry contributed $21.55 billion to the state’s public fiscus. That amounts to over twice the salary compensation for state employees last year. If Brown cuts oil industry water, he will have to fire state workers.

Still, crude oil production in California has fallen for 27 of the last 30 years, from about 1.15 million to 566,000 barrels per day. California used to be self-sufficient, but now imports 62.8 percent of the petroleum it uses.

Last year, California spent about $32 billion to import 400 million oil barrels of oil.

The oil and gas industry contributes over $20 billion to the state coffers. You know that intermittent energy (wind, solar) takes money away from state coffers through tax breaks, subsidies, and grants.

Five (5) New Permits, BR Reports Four High-IP Wells -- North Dakota -- September 2, 2015

Active rigs:

	9/2/2015	09/02/2014	09/02/2013	09/02/2012	09/02/2011
Active Rigs	75	194	185	192	198

Four (4) wells coming off confidential list Thursday:

• 29208, 2,533, MRO, Lun USA 11-14H, Reunion Bay, t6/15; cum 46K 7/15 (45 days);
• 29611, SI/NC, Statoil, Cheryl 17-20 8TFH, Banks, no production data,
• 30469, SI/NC, EOG, Shell 22-2819H, Parshall, no production data,
• 30604, drl/NC, SM Energy, L. Johnson 4-30HS, no production data,

Five (5) producing wells completed:

• 29425, 1,608, BR, Kings Canyon 5-8-34UTFH, Camel Butte, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 12K 9 days;
• 29431, 1,848, BR, Kings Canyon 6-1-27MBH, Camel Butte, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 14K 9 days;
• 29433, 1,464, BR, Kings Canyon 4-1-27MTFH, Camel Butte, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 12K 9 days;
• 29466, 2,124, BR, Kings Canyon 7-8-34MBH, Camel Butte, 4 sections, t7/15; cum 14K 9 days;
• 30358, 85, Enduro Operating, MRPSU 19-33-H1, Mouse River Park, a Madison well, t8/15; cum --

Five (5) new permits --

• Operators: Statoil (4), Whiting
• Fields: Banks, Bell (Stark)
• Comments:

Whiting renews three permits: two Koppinger permits and one Cymbaluk permit, all in Stark County.

OXY USA temporarily abandons #16989, a Meyer well, in Cunn County.

EOG temporarily abandons four fairly recent wells in Parshall oil field (#27391, #28401, #28726, #28727, and @28728), Mountrail County.

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I Never Saw This Coming

Quick! Name the state with the highest poverty rate! California is #1, by far, using "alternative" Census Bureau statistics; #2 if one uses "traditional" methods to define poverty.

Traditional methods: New Mexico is #1 at 22%. California follows at 15%.
Alternative methods based on "realistic" parameters: California #1 at 23%. New Mexico at 16%.

I did not know this. Stumbled across it while reading about Monterey Shale on which Jerry Brown is basing California's economic future.

I bet if I ask my wife she will say Alabama or Mississippi, but certainly not California.