The United States is producing more oil than any country in history
- Thread starter dgordo
- Start date
That pivot can’t come fast enough, but we also should ensure we have enough of our own oil reserves to last our populace for the transition.
Just hoping that drilling isn’t negatively affecting the surrounding environments too drastically. Which, I guess, is a naive sentiment.
We are not to move the American populace off oil consumption for at least another 20 years.
Saudis for starting a war then trying to walk away from it after making a mess.
Most Dems, including myself, realize that fossil fuels will be part of our energy profile for the foreseeable future. Most dems also want a gradual weening of the dependence. Oil production is a business thing, not a government thing. It is astounding the politicians tout oil production as a government accomplishment and even more astounding when people believe them.
September 25, 2015
Six months ago today, the White House announced U.S. support for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen via press release: “President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council]-led military operations.” As is true for all interventions, U.S. officials offered a buffet of justifications and objectives for backing the GCC side in Yemen’s chaotic civil war. In an earlier piece, I counted seven. Unsurprisingly, these are no longer mentioned by officials. Rather, they call upon all parties in the conflict to halt their fighting, failing to mention that the United States military is one of the parties by providing material support, without which the GCC would not be able sustain airstrikes over Yemen for any period of time. When pushed by reporters about U.S. responsibilities, they reply “we continue to discuss with Saudi authorities….We’re in constant and close communication with them,” or simply deflect, “I would refer you to the Saudis.”
First and foremost, understand that the United States undertook this obligation without any comprehension of what the Saudi-led coalition was attempting to accomplish. Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said in March, “I don’t currently know the specific goals and objectives of the Saudi campaign, and I would have to know that to be able to assess the likelihood of success.” He added that he was simply contacted by the Saudi chief of defense a few hours before operations began. So much for taking the time to think through the consequences of the U.S. political and military commitment.
Nevertheless, since March 25, the United States has been providing in-air refueling, combat-search-and-rescue support (including the rescue of two Saudi pilots whose helicopter crashed in the Gulf of Aden), detailing forty-five intelligence analysts to help advise on target selection, and redoubling weapons exports and contractor support to the GCC countries.
Indeed, Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States is primarily as a source of cash for weapons. Since October 2010 alone, the Obama administration has agreed to sell $90.4 billion in weapons to the Gulf kingdom, according to the Congressional Research Service. That President Obama would so enthusiastically endorse arming such a brutal authoritarian government is unsurprising, since the United States is by far the leading arms dealer (with 47 percent of the world total) to what an annual State Department report classifies as the world’s “least democratically governed states”—those in the lowest quintile based upon Freedom House’s “political rights” ranking and the World Bank’s “voice and accountability” score.
The sad thing is that reality will have no impact on the Trumpers, it's a matter of faith. Biden did destroy the oil industry. Biden has also destroyed X, Y, and Z. It's one of those things everybody knows, like the grass is green and sky is blue, nobody has to prove that, everyone just knows it.
Disaster for the planet.
The party differences here are head-scratching. Everybody knows about climate change (even if they act like they don't), yet one party allows more investment in fossil energy extraction and use while the other pretends we aren't already the leading producer and demands we ramp up even more.
It's insane.
The market is so skewed by subsidies and externalized costs, both environmental and geopolitical, that the price doesn't even come close to reflecting the cost.
I vaguely recall reading that fossil energy subsidies were $79 Billion some years ago. I assume that's a global figure, not just the US, but who knows? It should be ZERO.
On top of eliminating all or nearly all fossil energy subsidies, we should have been slowly adding a carbon tax into the equation. Since we didn't, we should start now. But we won't.
Imagine a sane candidate running on even a tiny carbon tax. It could be a buck a ton, and heads would explode across the FOX and CNBC nations.
Similar threads
