Here's a way to solve our oil problem.

[archimedes]

Here's a way to solve our oil problem from one of America's most Conservative economists and a Republican Conservative from South Carolina.

Beats the hell out of the Cap and Trade nonsense.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/opinion/28inglis.html?_r=1

[ScottA]

The whole idea is to get more of our money not to save the planet. With that in mind ideas like this will get little traction. What they really want to do it take money from the rich countries and give it to the poor countries and in the process take a cut. With a system like that in place the people in charge of distributing the money will have enormous power. I agree that oil use needs to be reduced but charging a tax on it just because it's bad won't fix anything. All it will do is make some people poor and others rich. People will still buy the oil so long as they have no other options. I've yet to see anyone propose any serious alternatives to oil. The only options I've seen are to force us to pay more for it. Shifting energy use from the US to Peru or Brazil won't save the planet or cut Co2 emmissions and thats what cap and trade does.

[archimedes]

The whole idea is to get more of our money not to save the planet. With that in mind ideas like this will get little traction. What they really want to do it take money from the rich countries and give it to the poor countries and in the process take a cut. With a system like that in place the people in charge of distributing the money will have enormous power. I agree that oil use needs to be reduced but charging a tax on it just because it's bad won't fix anything. All it will do is make some people poor and others rich. People will still buy the oil so long as they have no other options. I've yet to see anyone propose any serious alternatives to oil. The only options I've seen are to force us to pay more for it. Shifting energy use from the US to Peru or Brazil won't save the planet or cut Co2 emmissions and thats what cap and trade does.

Did you read the article?   

A revenue neutral carbon tax would not "get more of our money" nor help Peru or Brazil.  It would help the US at the expense of oil dictatorships.  The point of the tax to to create an incentive to foster the developement of new energy start ups to replace oil.  And remove the perverse tax subsidies that now exist for oil.  Whoever is the most efficient at that will win.

[ScottA]

I read it. That's why I said it won't get any traction. It doesn't do what they want. Which is to transfer wealth.

[archimedes]

I read it. That's why I said it won't get any traction. It doesn't do what they want. Which is to transfer wealth.

Well i think it's a good idea because it doesn't transfer wealth.  That's the point. 

Plus, there is no way to avoid the income tax, unless you stop working.  You can reduce your carbon tax by innovating and using less energy.  The net effect for creative energy conserving people would be a net tax reduction.  Plus it would create jobs domestically.

[ScottA]

I hear what you're saying bmancanfly. I wish them luck with any plan that's actualy fair getting passed.

[archimedes]

Sad, but probably true.

[Whitlock]

We don't have a oil problem we have a Middle East problem. The Middle Easteners pump millons if not billons of dollars to the nature nazi's here in the US to stop the advancement of drilling here on our soil.

Here's an interesting read, important and verifiable information :

About 6 months ago, the writer was watching a news program on oil and
one of the Forbes Bros. was the guest. The host said to Forbes, "I am going to ask you a direct question and I would like a direct answer; how much oil
does the U.S. have in the ground?" Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, "more than all the Middle East put together." Please read below.

The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April 2008 that only
scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big.. It was a
revised report (hadn't been updated since 1995) on how much oil was in
this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota , western South Dakota , and
extreme eastern Montana .... check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe
Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign
oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion
barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... at $107 a barrel,
we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5..3 trillion.

"When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see
their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea.." says Terry Johnson, the Montana
Legislature's financial analyst.

"This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found
in the past 56 years," reports The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a
formation known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' It stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!

That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 2041 years
straight. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one
should - because it's from 2006!

U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World

Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006

Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the
largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION
barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In
three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this
motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?

They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders,
than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:

- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia

- 18-times as much oil as Iraq

- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait

- 22-times as much oil as Iran

- 500-times as much oil as Yemen

- and it's all right here in the Western United States .

HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the
environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America
become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of
people dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY?

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in
this very compact area than the entire Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION
barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in
the world today, reports The Denver Post.

Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think
again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to. Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?



http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

[ScottA]

I've seen that before Whitlock. It has alot to do with maintaining the value of the dollar around the world and funding the federal debt. Alot of those oil dollars we send to the middle east come right back as they buy treasury debt with them. They need to maintain a demand for dollars. It's all a giant scam to give the feds more money and power. They do the same thing with manufaturing in China and beef in south America. They force us to buy from them and in return they buy US debt. Basicly the US lives on credit from all these dollars spent abroad.

[Pox Eclipse]

HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this?

Because it is shale oil and has to be strip mined to recover it? It's not like it is just waiting to be pumped out of the ground.  I suspect the residents of the mountain states, liberal and conservative alike, are not too keen on having their states reduced to toxic slag heaps.