Featured Who Should Get American Gas?

Yes, matt, IMO we need to eliminate many and add a few to provide true protection for our nation and it's resource instead of punishing the consumer (and ultimately our economy) because of the bad decisions of our administration.

HankD

 

Oh, I thought for a minute there the thread was on who should get Arminian gas. Sorry!

 

The answer is that oil is subsidized by the government in those nations.

Further, it is, in a sense, subsidized by America for a lot of other nations because we do not add an export tax to the product as it is when exported to us from other nations. It does seem a bit odd that we are both importing fuel and exporting fuel, but that is more due to the supply nature of multiple oil companies than anything else.

One issue that hasn't been raise as yet is American protectionism, i.e., buy up as much crude from around the world and sit on our own supply until the rest of the world is exhausted. That would seemingly give us an advantage down the road 80 or so years from now. Two flies in the ointment, however... First, if or when the rest of the world gets THAT strapped for fuel, expect world wars over supply -- and we would definitely not be immune -- and second, oil may not even be a factor in 80 years. If we look back 80 years we find that we went from dumping our oil on roads to hold down gravel dust to using it as a highly sought after commodity for everything from fuel to plastic to drugs. Add 80 years with our current rates of advance and we may work right away from oil as an energy source, at least in the manner used today.

The answer is nuclear power. It is not vast vats of biological mater that is then processed and burned -- SO inefficient -- but rather a pellet that is dropped into a processor that provides virtually unlimited power. Only that will suffice as we move forward and when virtually everything takes power to operate. That we have rather limited the technological advances in the case of nuclear power is driven by two factors in my mind, first the "yuk factor" -- we are more terrified of radiation than almost anything else -- and the cost factor -- right now costs are high, but that is largely because there is little or no demand apart from laboratory or government use. The advantage is that we can actually produce nuclear fuel instead of relying on digging it from the ground. It could also be produced in space, which would eliminate the potential of an accident on earth having a dramatic impact on life as we know it, and also provide virtually unlimited solar energy to fuel the manufacturing process -- something not available once light hits the atmosphere.

 

I thought it was about American cuisine.