Understanding the Issues 2008: Energy

The energy that matters to me is the fuel I put in my car, and the fuel that heats my home and runs my appliances...

And while I yearn for the day of $0.79/gallon (Junior year in college, several gas stations in and around Salisbury, MD hit this mark), I'd just like to see gas and heating oil back to relatively user-friendly levels. We're all used to seeing $3+ that $2 would be a relief, but I'd love to see it cheaper than that.

It was a huge mistake allowing companies like Exxon and Mobil, BP and Amoco, and Chevron and Texaco to merge and limit refinery production. It's a matter of another big hurricane to bust through the Gulf of Mexico before we see $5/gallon nationwide.

Ahh, I too long for the days where I could pay for a gallon of gas with a few quarters and a dime. But, the silver lining in the skyrocketing price of oil/gas is it's starting to make the search for alternative fuels make sense in the short-term. As others have noted, the only thing that is going to force our country to kick it's addiction to oil is money.

Well, that wasn't really my question, but I guess the answer then is yes I should. And yes you're right.

1=Hillary Clinton
2=John McCain
3=Barack Obama

Again, the points I listed does not cover the full range of their agenda but their major points. I gathered this from various sources, including their own official sites.

Overall, I tend to be a McCain guy but if Energy was a major issue for me I don't know that he would be my guy. For one thing he makes hardly any mention of it on his own site which tells me it's not a huge priority for him (could be wrong though) and his solutions were somewhat vague. He spoke more about the will and creativity of the American people to solve this problem, without much in terms of actual plans and benchmarks.

Gee...#1 and #3 sounded so similar, why? :D

Well if that was the case then Obama & Hillary would know this and they could just add that to their platform and promise that gas prices would drop if they were elected. They know that is not the case so they are not using this as a means to get elected. Also if Cheney is to blame for our high gas prices why is gas going up all over the world?

Also, why have gas prices REALLY dramatically increased since Democrats took over Congress?

Just some fuel for thought. :D

Also, why have gas prices REALLY dramatically increased since Democrats took over Congress?

Just some fuel for thought. :D

I don't know if it's a Democratic thing...or even a Republican for that matter. But I'll say for one, and take this how you want, but our occupation in Iraq has most definitely played a role in the price of oil and it's trickle down affect on gas prices.

Also, why have gas prices REALLY dramatically increased since Democrats took over Congress?

Just some fuel for thought. :D
if it were that simple, old W. would have just vetoed. like he has every other democratic proposal:(

I don't know if it's a Democratic thing...or even a Republican for that matter. But I'll say for one, and take this how you want, but our occupation in Iraq has most definitely played a role in the price of oil and it's trickle down affect on gas prices.

And frankly who cares who's fault it is just get the damn problem fixed.

I don't know if it's a Democratic thing...or even a Republican for that matter. But I'll say for one, and take this how you want, but our occupation in Iraq has most definitely played a role in the price of oil and it's trickle down affect on gas prices.

Yeah it has nothing to do with Dems or Reps but it also has little to do with the war in Iraq. I dislike the war as much as the next person but let's not buy into the political babble about that.

Crude oil prices are what they are because:

OPEC has decided that's what they are going to cost. OPEC is a cartel which means they collude to set a price. They usually actually use some metrics to set this price but by no means is it a true market price. The types of things that drive their raising prices are:

Increased demand in Asia. With the increase in demand from China and India(Growing 10%a year for 6 years now) the needed crude oil has risen 40% in a decade.

Couple that with an extreme loss of production from Venzuela and the supply and demand intersection(price) has gone way up.

Other factors are increased environmental regulations, especially in the summer months. Deman in the US skyrockets in the summer months because of AC but prices go up even further because the blends needed per regulations mean greater production costs. Plus the fact that twice a year refineries have to retrofit to mix the proper blends.

On top of all that(crude oil rpices in general) our refinery capacity is still hurting after the Summer of '06's hurricane hell trip that really killed that facet of the industry. Even before Katrina I think we were down capacity wise like 50%. Katrina just put the last 10 nails in the coffin.

And frankly who cares who's fault it is just get the damn problem fixed.

I agree and the one question I'd love for this country to start examining is why everything HAS to be someone's fault. Can't sh*t just happen and it not be Clinton's or Bush's fault or whoever? I know I don't much care.

I agree and the one question I'd love for this country to start examining is why everything HAS to be someone's fault. Can't sh*t just happen and it not be Clinton's or Bush's fault or whoever? I know I don't much care.

Yep, everyone is too caught up in playing the blame game rather than addressing the issues at hand.

I don't want a Candidate that has a hard and fast plan before are even elected to the office. I want a candidate that will take the office, and use the additional Top Secret information, that only the executive branch and intelligence agencies are privy to, to re-evaluate our current energy plan, and apply the necessary resources to fix it.

I don't think either Hillary or Obama is capable of that. I'm not sure McCain is either, but he does seem like he would have the best chance to stave off economic collapse.